The purpose of the curriculum (whether teaching in person or using digital format) is to teach that the human person exists as a multidimensional being and that one’s sexuality is integrated in all the dimensions. As human beings, we have the capacity to reason, make choices, seek what is true, and to ask questions of ultimate significance. The lessons in the curriculum stress that one’s sexual health depends on the choice to save sex for marriage or one monogamous bond and by making healthy choices in relationships, love, and responsibility. These choices affect the whole person’s present and future well-being and the heritage passed on to future generations.
Since sex involves one’s sexuality, is more than an isolated act, is more than a bodily function, is not just a commodity to buy or sell, and since contraceptives
do not always provide protection against STDs, sexual health education must appeal to the dispositions of
the mind, heart, will, and conscience of the learner. Young people can be reached through their hearts and challenged to become persons of character, capable of contributing not only to their own well-being but also to their communities and society.
The premise of the whole person learning theory by Onalee McGraw, Ph.D., is foundational for Concepts of Sexual Health, Sex and You!“As whole persons, men and women possess a sexuality that is integrated in body, mind, heart, will, and conscience. The sexual domain is permeated by the intellectual, moral, emotional, physical, and social domains. The psychological guiding principle is that cognitive powers of memory, thought, judgment, imagination, and learning related to sexuality permeate the body, mind, heart, will, and conscience; thinking, feeling, and acting in the sexual domain reflect the whole person.”
The resources included in Concepts of Sexual Health, Sex and You! are based on medical facts, statistics from the Center for Disease Control & Prevention/cdc.gov, and are developmentally appropriate for 9-12th grades. A modified version of the curriculum for Jr. High grades 7-8 is available upon request.
In six 90-minute lessons (or twelve 45 min. lessons) using video, powerpoint, lecture, and discussion (whether using Concepts of Sexual Health, Sex & You! digital curriculum available online or classroom teacher.) Concepts of Sexual Health, Sex and You! presents students with the concepts of the whole person approach and a definition for sexual health that integrates the five dimensions of the whole person; human dignity and development; classic film lesson plans from Love & Life at the Movies: Growing in Love with the Film Classics Roman Holiday Love & Responsibility curriculum to promote virtue and character in love and marriage; medically based facts about STDs, contraception, and prevention of disease; and practical help from The High Cost of Free Love (Pam Stenzel) to guide young people in the present and future when seeking answers to life’s most difficult questions. Acquiring this knowledge and life skills will give students the opportunity to pass on sexual health and a heritage for life to future generations.
