Teen Aware in the Classroom: Frequently Asked Questions
Provided by experienced Teen Aware teacher, Theresa Aubin-Ahrens, North Kitsap High School
How should I introduce the idea of an abstinence media project to my class?
That will, of course, depend on the type of class you have. In a health education class, you might begin by discussing the health risks of teen sex with a lesson like Who Wants To Be a Statistic?, the emotional risks of sex and the benefits of abstinence, as in Why Wait?, and how the media portrays sex, as in the Media and Myth lesson.
You may progress to a discussion of the techniques advertisers use sell their products, with activities like Product Placement in Movies, then discuss why advertisers use sex to sell, as in the lesson, Selling More Than Product.
Talk about social marketing (What is Social Marketing?), or the use of a Public Service Announcements (PSA) to change behavior or ideas. Discuss media messages that might attract teens and be effective. To target specific groups, see the Audiences section. From there you can begin creation of various media that carry the abstinence message. (You may want to begin with Time to Roll.)
In a media production or visual communications class, you will probably already be discussing the purpose and creation of various media. Now you need to define with your students the content of the message they want to communicate. You might look at different types of media, discussing the pros and cons of each type in the context of creating a social marketing campaign. Present the abstinence message as the social message that will be marketed. Be sure to bring in experts in the health field to give the students facts and information about the current state of teen sex, pregnancy, and STIs/HIV. You may also wish to consult the resources on the Statistics and Facts page.
Let the students determine how to focus the message to a specific audience of their choice. An abstinence message can target so many different groups that there is plenty of room for student input and choice. It is with this input and choices that students begin to care about, and invest in, the project.
Should I give specific assignments to the students?
A method that has worked well for previous Teen Aware instructors is to divide a the class into groups of about five students, or “ad agencies.” Each agency will come up with a specific message, a specific target audience, a “hook” or slogan to promote their message, and five to six types of media best suited to help communicate their message. Included in the final presentation should be a plan to make sure the media created will actually get to the target audience. The students then decide what actually will be created, and divide up the work.
You could also go through the process of narrowing down the message, the target and the slogan in a large group so that all the “agencies” are using the same focus. Instructors have used both the large group and the small group methods with success.
The small group method gives students more choices, which helps a great deal with student commitment to the message and the media created. However, the large group offers a tighter, usually more thought out focus, and more chance of getting at least a few very high quality projects, because there is often a bit of good natured competition to come up with the best poster, video, animation, etc.
Some instructors have combined the methods, starting with each group going their own direction. After their initial presentations, students discuss the pros and cons of each presentation, and then choose the best idea to continue to develop. They then adapt and/ or edit their media to work with the chosen message, coming up with one large presentation.
How do I get high school boys and girls who are possibly already sexually active interested and involved in the program?
When presented with the facts of teen sex, pregnancy, and STIs/HIV, most teens quickly grasp the importance of an abstinence message, if not for them, for junior high age students. For example, the average male partner of a pregnant 15 year old (and younger) is seven years older than the female. For most high school boys, the thought of someone they care about, such as a younger sister, cousin or good friend, involved in a sexual relationship with an older male is enough to get them interested in creating awareness messages. In addition, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a majority of sexually active teens say that they regret not waiting longer to have sex.
Many older students, while initially committed to raising awareness of younger kids, begin to re-evaluate their own decisions about sex and abstinence. Teen Aware instructors have reported complete turnarounds in attitudes, even for those that may have already engaged in sexual behaviors. Some material on the site addresses this issue specifically, as in Abstinence is Always a Choice.
The keys are: Help students find ways to create messages that avoid passing judgment regarding another student’s behavior or choices; make the students understand the most successful abstinence messages educate, not pontificate. When the students realize their messages are about empowerment and education that enable other students to make informed decisions about their own future, most students can find an angle they feel good about promoting.
How do I make sure to get a variety of both boys and girls and students from all “cliques” involved?
In a classroom situation, that isn’t a problem. However, in an after-school program it is more of a challenge. One good method to ensure lots of involvement from both sexes and different cliques is to create a variety of media that will interest a diverse student population. For example, you might invite the school’s best rappers to come up with a rap that includes the abstinence message. That might turn into a music video production that involves several students.
One Teen Aware instructor recalls:
“I have asked the Homecoming King, the star football player, and the most well known rapper in school to be the on screen talent in videos. All of them then volunteered to speak at the junior high on abstinence. We have asked a talented musician to create the background music for a video slide show production. We found a drama student to write a skit and had them enlist their friends to perform it at a school assembly. At the same assembly, the musicians performed, we showed videos, had a speaker, enlisted volunteers from the audience for a game show and answered student questions. After the assembly, students from the audience asked how they could join the group.”
The key is to make it fun, make it safe and non-judgmental, and make it belong to the students.