High School Family Life Curriculum Course

This comprehensive high school curriculum empowers students to build healthy relationships, make informed decisions about sexuality and their bodies, and recognize their responsibility in creating a culture of respect and safety by exploring personal values, identifying toxic relationship patterns, and learning that consent is clear, enthusiastic, and withdrawable at any time. Students gain accurate, science-based information about reproductive systems, pregnancy, contraceptive methods and their effectiveness rates, common sexually transmitted infections, and the realities of teenage parenthood, while learning that abstinence is the only 100% effective prevention method and a valid choice—noting that more than half of high school students are not sexually active. The curriculum develops critical media literacy skills by examining how TV, movies, social media, and dating apps portray unrealistic expectations about relationships and sexuality, and recognizes that sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation exist on spectrums. Students learn to distinguish between sexual harassment, abuse, and assault as issues of power and control, practice bystander intervention, and access concrete community resources including crisis hotlines, school counselors, and advocacy organizations to make healthy choices and contribute to a safe community.

Question 1: How do I build and maintain healthy relationships while respecting myself and others?

Question 2: How do my choices about my body, sexuality, and relationships affect my health, future, and the people around me?

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The foundation of this curriculum focuses on helping students develop healthy relationships and make responsible decisions. Students explore Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs to understand personal values and goals, then identify characteristics of healthy versus toxic relationships through questionnaires and real-world scenarios. They learn structured decision-making processes and practice setting boundaries, understanding that consent must be clear, enthusiastic, and can be withdrawn at any time.

A critical component includes recognizing peer pressure and power differentials in relationships, with students practicing refusal strategies through role-play and discussion. Students also explore puberty and gender identity using an Identity Continuum, recognizing that sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation exist on spectrums. This unit emphasizes that more than half of high school students are not sexually active, and abstinence is a valid and healthy choice.

This unit provides scientifically accurate information about reproductive systems, contraception, and sexually transmitted infections. Students study the anatomy and functions of male and female reproductive systems and learn how pregnancy occurs. The curriculum examines various contraceptive methods, comparing effectiveness rates, side effects, and access, while emphasizing that abstinence is the only 100% effective method of preventing both pregnancy and STIs.

Students learn about common STIs including chlamydia, gonorrhea, HPV, herpes, syphilis, and hepatitis—exploring transmission, symptoms, treatment, and why early screening is important. Additionally, students research fetal development from fertilization through birth, exploring how maternal health, nutrition, and lifestyle choices affect the developing baby, and examine the realities of teenage parenthood, including financial costs, legal responsibilities, and the options available to pregnant teens (parenting, adoption, or abortion).

The final portion of the curriculum equips students with critical thinking skills about media's influence on sexuality and relationships, examining how TV, movies, social media, and dating apps portray unrealistic expectations and stereotypes. Students learn to distinguish between sexual harassment, sexual abuse, and sexual assault, understanding that sexual violence is about power and control, not sex.

Through activities like the "Stand Up Exercise" and bystander intervention training, students explore how sexual violence affects everyone and practice ways to support survivors and stand up to harmful behavior. The curriculum emphasizes that abuse is never the victim's fault and provides students with concrete community resources, including crisis hotlines, school counselors, and advocacy organizations. Throughout this unit, students learn that everyone has a responsibility to create a culture of respect and safety, and that trusted adults and professional resources are available to help anyone experiencing harassment, abuse, or assault.