Lessons in Sex Education: Body Image and Sexual Health
What's New, Mar/Apr 2002 by Kelly, Maureen
Every time high school student Carrie stared into the mirror, she swore she was getting fatter. She pulled out a long black sweater to cover herself up. Why couldn't she look more like the models she'd seen in catalogs?
Healthy body image is one of many factors that can either positively or negatively impact an individual's ability to make a thoughtful and healthy decision. It's a fact: young people make healthier choices about sexuality when they feel good about themselves. Conversely, when people feel like they are not pretty enough, muscular enough or curvy enough, they may make compromises in their decision-making processes.
This negative thinking can easily result in engaging in sexually risky behavior. The following activity is designed to help students identify the connections between negative body image and sexual decision-making.
Divide a large class into work groups of five to eight people. Ask the groups to brainstorm all the possible ways in which a negative body image can impact sexual decisions. Provide guiding questions, such as:
* The impact of your choice about sexual intercourse?
* The impact of your contraceptive choices?
* The impact in your choice in a relationship?
* The impact your decision may have to stay in an unhealthy relationship?
* The impact of how you dress and act?
Possible responses to these questions should be ready for the open class discussion. A person might have sex with anyone because they think that no one else would ever like them. Students may choose relationships with people who are not good for them because they don't think anyone else would ever date them. Some students may also dress inappropriately thinking they are more attractive, or may drink alcohol or smoke cigarettes to fit in with the crowd.
After the groups have given their individual reports, encourage discussion around some of the following questions:
* Do the lists have anything in common? If so, what are they?
* Why is it important to talk about the connections between sexuality and body image?
* What are some concrete things people can do to fight a negative body image?
* What is one small thing you can do this week to fight negative body image?
The better people feel, the better decisions they make. Creating activities to better understand the negative impact of poor body image is a crucial part of any larger learning process.
Pregnancy Prevention Resources
AGC/UNITED LEARNING
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BTIO, INC.
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LEARNING MULTI-SYSTEMS
800/362-7323
MERIDIAN EDUCATION CORP.
800/727-5507
NASCO
800/558-9595
SUNBURST COMMUNICATIONS
800/431-1934
Maureen Kelly is the author of My Body, My Rules: The Body Esteem, Sexual Esteem Connection (Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention, www.etr.org/recapp). Photo courtesy of the Resource Center for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.
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