Youth AIDS Prevention Project ( YAPP) 169

Chapter 14 Youth AIDS Prevention Project ( YAPP) 169

Parent workshop: This optional activity familiarized parents with the curric- ulum and increased adults’ awareness of STI/HIV/AIDS and risky behaviors affecting teens. Although the program developers had originally planned a more extensive series of adult activities to accompany the parent workshop, they found that adults were unwilling or unable to take part.

A brief overview of the sessions appears below. 7th-Grade Curriculum. Class 1: Decision Making. At the start of this class, the teacher

explained the ground rules that would govern group discussions and invited stu- dents to submit any questions they had throughout the program to the anonymous question box. The class then considered the factors that infl uenced teens’ deci- sion making (e.g., family, friends, boy/girlfriend, teachers, media, religion, school). Through role-play exercises, students were introduced to the SAFER method of decision making:

S = Study the problem and clarify the decision to be made.

A = List the alternatives or choices you have.

F = Find the best alternative/choice for you by considering the advantages and disadvantages of each one.

E = Execute the plan (do it!). R = Review and consider the outcome of your decision.

For homework, students considered two situations in which they had to make decisions about risk-taking behavior and explained their decision-making process for each. In addition, students and their parents or guardians completed a survey assessing their patterns of communication.

Class 2: Resistance/Negotiation Skills. At the start of this session, the homework was reviewed and questions from the anonymous question box were answered. (These activities occurred at the start of all subsequent lessons.) This class was designed to help teens recognize that the importance of their decisions would vary. Working in small groups, students brainstormed to create a list of decisions and decided whether each was a big or small decision. Then the teacher introduced the six S ’s—resistance/negotiation skills that could guide one in reaching good decisions:

S = Stop , look, and listen. S = Say “no.” S = State your response repeatedly, and in different ways. S = Suggest other things to do. S = Say “good-bye.” S = Stay away.

Several role-play exercises were used to review the SAFER method of decision mak- ing and practice the six S ’s of resistance/negotiation skills. Class 3: A is for AIDS. This session provided students with basic factual infor- mation about HIV and AIDS, including transmission, infection, and prevention. Students learned that their risk of exposure to the HIV virus would increase as they participated in risky behaviors. The class then watched and discussed the video

HIV and AIDS: Staying Safe, which introduced facts about HIV and AIDS.

170 Model Programs for Adolescent Sexual Health

Class 4: Prevention (Abstinence and Safer Sex). During the fi rst part of the class, abstinence was discussed as the only 100% certain method for STI/HIV/ AIDS prevention. Together, the group explored alternative ways to express love and romantic feelings apart from sexual intercourse. Then the focus shifted to issues concerning sexuality, methods of contraception, pregnancy, and transmission of STI/HIV/AIDS. At the end of the period, the instructor led a demonstration of the proper way to use condoms and spermicidal foam or lubricant.

Class 5: Whose Decision Is It? Students identifi ed and analyzed the ways vari- ous media try to infl uence their decision making. They looked not only at sexual messages, but also at the ways they were persuaded to buy a product or wear a particular style of clothing.

Class 6: Teen AIDS. A group exercise and the video AIDS/STIs showed students how quickly AIDS could be transmitted from person to person.

Class 7: Prevention (Be Safe—Don’t Do Drugs). During this lesson, students examined the reasons why adolescents used drugs and the consequences that could result. A series of role-play activities reinforced participants’ decision-making and resistance/negotiation skills in real-life situations concerning drugs.

Class 8: STI: Stop That Infection. This lesson provided students with general information about STIs, including transmission and prevention. The group applied the SAFER decision-making method and the six S ’s of resistance/negotiation skills in role-play activities.

Class 9: Drugs and STIs. Focusing on ways to prevent STIs, the class again used the SAFER decision-making method and the six S ’s of resistance/negotiation skills in a series of role-play activities. In another activity called “Give me your best jive/line,” students learned to negotiate safer sex practices and considered delaying sexual intercourse until they were emotionally and mentally ready. For homework, students wrote a newsletter column for a school newspaper giving advice about risk-taking choices and decisions.

Class 10: Program Review. The fi nal session of the 7th-grade program helped students integrate the information and skills they had learned concerning STI/HIV/ AIDS, drugs, and human sexuality. In a group activity, students divided into two teams and answered questions about each of the topics covered in the curriculum.

Optional Parent Workshop. A separate 60- to 90-minute session was held for parents and guardians of 7th-grade students participating in the YAPP program. The session introduced parents to the curriculum, discussed current trends in sexual activity and drug use among teens, and encouraged parents to talk about sexuality and risk be- haviors with their children. The video A is for AIDS was also presented to parents.

8th-Grade Curriculum. Lesson 1: Making Decisions. During the fi rst lesson of the 8th-grade booster program, students reviewed the ground rules that would govern each of the class discussions. They were invited to submit any questions they had to the anonymous question box. A poster reviewed the SAFER decision-making method and the six S ’s of resistance/negotiation skills. These concepts were rein- forced through role-play activities concerning pressure to have sex and engage in risky behaviors. Students created their own skits. For homework, students wrote their autobiographies, imagining themselves at a point 5 years in the future.

Lesson 2: Sexuality and STIs (HIV/AIDS). After answering students’ questions from the anonymous question box, the instructor summarized key information, in- cluding myths and facts about transmission, prevention, and infection of HIV/AIDS and other STIs. The group then divided into two- to four-person teams to review case studies concerning risks for exposure to HIV/AIDS. For each case, the teams an- swered a series of questions about the decisions the characters would have to make.

Lesson 3: Relationships, Abstinence, and Safer Sex. This lesson aimed to help students understand and manage healthy relationships. The instructor asked