Sexuality and Lifeskills Education for Young People
As a Health Education organisation, we often get asked about sex and lifeskills education and how we go about it!
We don’t have our own projects but over the years our staff have helped to design programmes with partners and we have helped to develop materials alongside teachers and others. Perhaps the best example of a specific sex and life skills curriculum for primary school age children was the Our Future series described below. We have set out the contents of the series to give you a quick insight to the scope and scale of this curriculum. Sometimes you will see that the headings and even the topics are the same in more than one grade. This is because the content of the lessons for grades 4 & 5 are tailored to the developmental stage of the children. In curriculum terms this is called “scope and sequence”. For older children the scope of the topic will be deeper and more advanced that it is for the younger ones.
Our Future Sexuality and Life skills Education for Young People
- Preparing to teach sexuality and life skills
- Teaching sexuality and life-skills
- Pupils Book Grades 4-5
- Pupils Book Grades 6-7
- Pupils Book Grades 8-9
These materials were developed through a project started in 2003 which involved the Ministry of Education, Zambia, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Planned Parenthood Association of Zambia (PPAZ), Young, Happy, Healthy and Safe (YHHS) and teachers and learners in grades 4 to 9 from 13 schools in Chipata District, Eastern Province, Zambia. The teachers’ and community workers’ manual was developed at the start of the project and tested and revised in three training workshops with teachers from Chipata district. Clare Hanbury, CEO and founder of Children for Health was involved in the development of the three learners guides listed above.
For more on this topic, click through through to this fascinating post and article.
Grades 4 and 5
- Working together safely
- 1.1 Hopes, fears and guiding rules
- 1.2 Trust and keeping secrets
- 1.3 Working together with respect
- 1.4 Supporting each other during puberty
- 1.5 Sexuality and life skills education
- Children’s rights
- 2.1 Understanding our rights
- 2.2 Sexual and reproductive rights
- 2.3 Getting our rights met
- 2.4 Good touch, bad touch
- Growing up
- 3.1 The joys and problems of growing up
- 3.2 Physical changes at puberty
- 3.3 Female reproductive system
- 3.4 Male reproductive system
- 3.5 Menstruation
- 3.6 Wet dreams
- Understanding ourselves
- 4.1 Coping with our feelings
- 4.2 Self-esteem and growing up
- 4.3 What makes a good friend?
- 4.4 Getting help about growing up
- Understanding gender
- 5.1 Gender and sex roles
- 5.2 Gender values
- Understanding sexuality
- 6.1 Sexual feelings
- 6.2 Worries about sexual feelings
- Reproductive health
- 7.1 What is pregnancy?
- 7.2 Signs of pregnancy
- 7.3 Unsafe and unwanted pregnancies
- 7.4 Infertility
- Sexually transmitted infections
- 8.1 What are STIs?
- 8.2 Prevention of STIs
- 8.3 Treatment of STIs
- Understanding HIV and AIDS
- 9.1 HIV and AIDS and human rights
- 9.2 No risk, low risk and high risk of HIV infection
- Understanding drugs
- 10.1 Different types of drugs
- 10.2 Using drugs safely
Grade 6 and & 7
- Working together safely
- 1.1 Sexuality and life skills education
- 1.2 Making guiding rules
- 1.3 Trust and keeping secrets
- 1.4 Working together with respect
- 1.5 Supporting each other as we grow up
- Children’s rights
- 2.1 Understanding sexual and reproductive rights
- 2.2 Supporting our rights
- 2.3 My body is mine
- Growing up
- 3.1 The joys and problems of growing up
- 3.2 Expressing our feelings
- 3.3 Traditional ideas about growing up and sexuality
- 3.4 Changing harmful traditional ideas
- 3.5 Our goals in life
- Understanding gender
- 4.1 Changing gender roles
- 4.2 Self-esteem and growing up
- 4.3 How gender affects sexual health
- Friendship and love
- 5.1 Friendship groups
- 5.2 Problems in friendship
- Love, sex and abstinence
- 6.1 Friendship between boys and girls
- 6.2 Love, sex and abstinence
- 6.3 Making good decisions about sex
- 6.4 Safer sex and trust
- Reproductive health
- 7.1 Prevention of pregnancy
- 7.2 Unsafe and unwanted pregnancies
- 7.3 Protecting our fertility
- Sexually transmitted infections
- 8.1 All about STIs
- 8.2 Treatment of STIs
- Understanding HIV and AIDS
- 9.1 Pregnancy, STIs and HIV
- 9.2 HIV and AIDS, stigma and discrimination
- 9.3 Coping with loss and grief
- Thinking ahead
- 10.1 Drug use and abuse
- 10.2 Keeping on your path
Grade 8 & 9
- Working together safely
- 1.1 Sexuality and life skills education
- 1.2 Making guiding rules
- 1.3 Trust and keeping secrets
- 1.4 Working together with respect
- 1.5 Supporting each other as we grow up
- Children’s rights
- 2.1 Understanding our rights
- 2.2 Upholding our rights
- 2.3 Women’s rights
- 2.4 Sexual abuse and rape
- Growing up
- 3.1 The joys and problems of growing up
- 3.2 Coping with the problems of growing up
- 3.3 Fertility awareness
- 3.4 Responsibilities as we grow up
- 3.5 Behaving responsibly
- Understanding gender
- 4.1 Responsibilities and gender
- 4.2 Our changing gender system
- 4.3 Gender equality and empowerment
- Love, marriage & sexuality
- 5.1 Sexual feelings and behaviour
- 5.2 Having a happy sexual life
- 5.3 Thinking about our future
- 5.4 Staying happy and safe in marriage
- 5.5 Solving problems in marriage
- 5.6 Friendships of the same sex
- 5.7 Solving sexual problems
- About pregnancy
- 6.1 Prevention of pregnancy
- 6.2 Early pregnancy
- 6.3 Coping with unwanted pregnancy
- 6.4 Helping with difficulties in fertility
- Sexually-transmitted infections
- 7.1 Signs and symptoms of STIs
- 7.2 Treatment of STIs
- 7.3 Preventing STIs
- Understanding HIV and AIDS
- 8.1 Voluntary counselling, testing and care
- 8.2 Living positively with HIV
- Coping well with life
- 9.1 Overcoming a drug problem
- 9.2 Overcoming an alcohol problem
- 9.3 Coping with stress and sadness
- 9.4 Keeping healthy