Here are some activities you can try with your students to educate them about risk reduction and healthy behaviors:

Risk-Awareness Activities:

STI Game:  Give each student an index card and ask them to guess what percentage of parents of the students talk with their children about STIs or the percentage of students who are sexually active in their school. Students then move about the room asking three of their classmates what they guessed and their names. When done they should have three names and answers on their card. Discuss responses. The first step of this game serves partly as a ruse for getting names to play the second part. Ask for a volunteer to act the part of Esmerelda or Lancelot. Explain that E or L likes to party and has gone out with 3 people, whose names the volunteer reads from the card. As each name is read, the student stands. The students standing read the names on their cards and those students stand. When all or most are standing discuss how this illustrates the spread of STIs.  Ask students to turn cards over. Each card is marked with either an A (abstinence), SS (safer sex) or HR (high risk). Ask students with As to sit down, as they abstained and are not at risk; students with SS also sit as they used safer sex, but ask one student to stand up again to signify that safer sex is not 100% effective. Those who remain standing are at high risk of contracting an STI.

The Ribbon Game: You will need lots of red ribbon and statistics on the number of AIDS cases in the United States from 1980 - 1997. Decide on the scale, e.g. 6 inches = 1500 AIDS cases. Read the number of AIDS cases starting with 2 year, then 1 year, then 6 month intervals. Students unroll the ribbon to match the number of cases. When done the room will be covered in red ribbon.

How Would it Be?: Have students write an essay or journal entry on how their life would change if they were diagnosed with AIDS or Herpes, or were responsible for an unintended pregnancy. Construct a series of questions the essay would need to answer.

Birth Control Education Activities:

What is Abstinence?: Like any birth control method, abstinence is most effective if used correctly and consistently. Have each student brainstorm the qualities and skills needed to use abstinence and write each one on a slip of paper. Place all the papers in a container - a heart shaped box adds a nice touch. Read and discuss each item, add missing elements, group ideas together and prioritize the groups. Remove some items from the list and ask students to discuss the consequences of the missing elements. Students can also use this discussion to develop personal plans.

Birth Control Grab Bag: Divide participants into small groups and give each a bag containing one or more birth control methods (write cards for abstinence, Depo-Provera and withdrawal). Have groups discuss what they know about the methods. All groups report back. This activity provides opportunities to increase people’s comfort in discussing birth control, to add missing information, and to correct misinformation. An alternative is to have the group write a commercial for the birth control methods. Review the basic components of persuasive ads first.

What’s the best choice? Give participants a series of brief descriptions of different couples’ situations. Each situation should be different in terms of the couple’s age, life circumstances, sexual behavior, medical concerns, desire to be parents, environment, STI risk factors, etc. Have participants decide which birth control methods would be best for each situation.

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