Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical - ETR Associates

Activity 9-4Description of Activity“Dear Abby” for Parent-Child ProgramsObjectives: Students and their parents will be able to:Discuss sexual situations encountered by teens more comfortably and effectivelyRisk and Protective Factors Addressed:Parent-child communication about sexActivity:Parents form one or more teams (with up to six parents per team) and their teens form separateteams (with up to six teens per team). Each team is given the same set of “Dear Abby” letters thatdepict a variety of sexual dilemmas or situations sometimes encountered by young people like theteens. Each group independently reads and discusses the letters.All the parents and teens reconvene in a single large group and representatives from each groupshare and compare the team’s solutions to the problems.After all the parents and teens have had a chance to read a dilemma/situation and suggest advice,a larger group involving all the parents and teens (up to about 16 people) is formed, the dilemma/situations are then read again, and representatives from each small group share their advice andgive their reasons for their advice. Each time the advice is given for a particular dilemma/situation,all the teens are asked the question: “Is this realistic?”Important Considerations in Using ItAfter solutions are given for each dilemma/situation, all the teens should be asked whether thesolution is realistic.References for Lessons That Describe a Similar Activity More Fully1. Parent Child Sex Education Training Module, Dear Abby2. Brown, J., Downs, M., Peterson, L., and Simpson, C. (1978). Human Sexuality Game: Parent-ChildSex Education: A Training Module. St. Joseph, MO: YWCA.3. Brown, J., Downs, M., Peterson, L., and Simpson, C. (1989). Parent-Child Sex Education: A TrainingModule. St. Joseph, MO: YWCA.118 Reducing Adolescent Sexual Risk: A Theoretical Guide for Developing and Adapting Curriculum-Based Programs