Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical - ETR Associates

Programs for parents and their teens have a fewobvious advantages over programs for teens only.They can:1. Increase the knowledge of both parents and teens.2. Model discussion of sexual topics and increasecomfort with the discussion of sexual topics.3. Provide opportunities in the group and immediatelyafterward (e.g., on the way home) for youngpeople and their parents to talk about sexual topicswith each other.4. Provide a comfortable climate where everyoneexpects they are going to talk about sexuality andwhere they see everyone else doing so.5. Provide an environment where prompt guidanceor assistance is available, if needed.Programs for parents and their teens have one significantdisadvantage: they have to recruit parentsand teens to participate and many organizationshave found this extremely difficult. After all, parentsmay have busy work schedules or may be involvedin other after-school activities; they may not havechild care or transportation available; or they maynot have the energy or interest to participate. Somegroups trying to implement such programs havefound it effective to work with other existing youthservingand parent-serving organizations that recruitand involve parents and teens for other reasons (e.g.,faith communities or Boys and Girls Clubs). Somealso have provided transportation, child care andincentives such as meals for participation.Essential elements of parent-child programs aredescribed more fully elsewhere (Kirby, Lezin etal. 2003). Programs often meet for several nights(about four or five, but sometimes for more) and thesessions typically last about 1½ to 2 hours. Someprograms divide participants by gender (fathersongroups and mother-daughter groups) and age(groups for young people 9 to 12 years old andgroups for young people 13 to 17 years old), andlimit each group to 10 parent-child pairs. Whileparents and their teens may be separated in one ormore sessions, most sessions involve both parentsand their children.Programs often present didactic material about topicscommon to sexuality education classes, such asanatomy, changes during adolescence, sexual behavior,reproduction, contraception, teen pregnancy andSTDs. It is very important, however, to balance thecontent by also including multiple interactive activities,such as small-group discussions, games, contests,simulations, films and experiential activitiesthat facilitate parent-child communication duringthe class.For example, as an ice breaker, parents can competeagainst their kids in a relay race in which they haveto blow up a balloon, retrieve the coiled questioninside, read the question about sexuality, and answerit (either correctly or incorrectly) (see Activity 9-2:Relay Race for Parent-Child Programs). The excitementof the race can diminish their embarrassmentas they talk rapidly and generally about a range ofsexuality-related topics.Similarly, two parents and their two teens can play aboard game in which they roll dice and move aroundthe board toward home base while landing on bluesquares (requiring them to draw a card and answer aknowledge question) or red squares (requiring themto draw a green card and answer a question abouthow they felt about some aspect of sexuality) (seeActivity 9-3: Human Sexuality Board Game forParent-Child Programs).Another popular activity involves “Dear Abby”letters that describe various situations and ask foradvice. Again, in small groups, parents and theirown children can read, answer, and discuss the letters(see Activity 9-4: “Dear Abby” for Parent-ChildPrograms).Another approach that involves parents in theirteens’ sexuality education is to reach them in theirown homes through video or written materials.Home-based video programs have several possibleadvantages. First, they do not require parentsor their teens to go to any particular location at aparticular time. Instead, schools, libraries, or healthclinics can loan the materials to parents. In addition,parents can review the program and make certainthey are comfortable with both the values discussed112 Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical Guide for Developing and Adapting Curriculum-Based Programs