School Health Education to Prevent AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) : Teachers' Guide (UNESCO - WHO, 1994, 117 p.): Unit 2. Responsible behaviour: delaying sex: 7 What’s next?

School Health Education to Prevent AIDS and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD) : Teachers' Guide (UNESCO - WHO, 1994, 117 p.)

Unit 2. Responsible behaviour: delaying sex

		(introduction...)
		1 Reasons to say NO - Reasons for delaying sex
		2 To delay or not to delay (a, b) - Case Study - Reasons for and against sex
		3 “Lines” and more “lines” - Pressure to have sex
		4 Guidelines: help to delay sex - Help for delaying sex
		5 What to do? - Case studies on sex for delaying sex
		6 Affection without sex? - Alternatives to sexual intercourse
		7 What’s next? - Ranking physical activities
		8 Am I assertive? - Definition of passive, aggressive, and assertive behaviours
		9 Who’s assertive? - Case studies - types of behaviours
		10 Assertive messages - Four steps to assertive behaviour
		11 Your assertive message (class) - Four steps to assertive behaviour
		12 Your assertive message (individual) - Four steps to assertive behaviour
		13 Responding to persuasion (demonstration) - How to refuse, delay, bargain
		14 Responding to persuasion (class activity) - How to refuse, delay, bargain
		15 Responding to persuasion (individual) - How to refuse, delay, bargain
		16 You decide - Activity on gender differences
		17 Dealing with threats and violence - Case study on violence in dating
		18 Being assertive every day - Take-home activity on being assertive

7 What’s next? - Ranking physical activities

Purpose

Physical affection can be very sexually arousing. The more sexually arousing the activity is, the more likely it will eventually lead to sex. Establishing limits, and knowing when to express these limits is very important for young people.

You may want to use the image of the mountain (see students’ activities 2.7) in order to illustrate to students that the more physical one gets, the more difficult it is to stop. In this image, sexual arousal is shown as a continuum from least physical to most physical, and students are asked to place various sexual behaviours at different levels on this continuum.

What the teacher does

1. Decide how to teach this activity.

a) Provide each student with an activity sheet and have them work individually, in pairs or in small groups.
b) Draw the activity on the blackboard and have a class discussion as to where the various sexual behaviours should be placed (only one activity sheet needed).
c) Provide one activity sheet for each group and do the activity in small groups.

2. Check the answers to the mountain climbing. Explain the concept to the students (see box above).

1) Holding hands - Least physical
2) Hugging
3) Dry kissing
4) Deep (wet) kissing
5) Touching breasts and/or genitals on top of clothes
6) Touching breasts and/or genitals under clothes
7) Body rubbing with no clothes - Most physical next to sexual intercourse

3. Discuss the answers to the questions in “Teacher asks”.

1) Why is it hard to stop as you get closer physically?
Curiosity and sexual desire put pressure on the couple to move to the next step. It is hard to stop and certainly very difficult to go back a step.
2) Would it be easy to go back to a safer activity? Why or why not?
For most people it would be difficult to go back a step. Strong sexual urges, curiosity and risk-taking would probably lead one to go on rather than back.
3) Where do you think the limit is?
Answers will vary but it is very difficult to stop after 5 or 6. If it has been discussed and agreed upon by both partners not to have sex, then it is possible to set limits.
4) Who should decide where the limit is? When should this limit be decided?
If there is disagreement, one person may have to be very assertive with the other about where they want to stop. The best or safest time to do this is before you become too aroused, but you can stop whenever you feel uncomfortable.