The Alternative (TA) will serve families of Washington State with alternative sexual risk avoidance education. A healthy solution to the risks and consequences teens face is teaching life skills that connect teens to their parents and community. TA endorses delaying sexual activity and planning for stable future families.
TA welcomes families desiring risk avoidance education This is for families who want to opt their children out of the formal sex education classes but want their children to receive:
- relationship skills (communication, boundary setting, decision-making)
- reproductive anatomy
- goal setting
- problem solving
- prevention strategies (refusal skills, situation avoidance, drug/alcohol influence)
- consequences of non-marital sexual activity
- and community resource information
Washington State law requires that schools provide an alternative activity for students who opt out but most schools have no formalized program.
Delivery Methods:
- High school Health Credit:Washington State requires all high school graduates to take a health class for .5 credits. The Alternative Project will provide healthy skill-based tools through private schools for families concerned about the content of the required sex education in public schools. The Alternative Project statewide network of private/tutorial schools and home school associations will teach an accredited health education class. Classes will be done remotely.
- At Home Delivery:Parents will work with their teen on homework assignments, data will be collected to show that an outside-of-public-school classroom model works. The course has 26 lesson options, covering; friendship, dating, careers, reproductive anatomy, drugs, alcohol, nutrition, exercise, media influence, consequences of sexual activity, teen pregnancy, adoption, abortion facts and STD prevention plus a variety of positive relationship building skills, boundary setting, cessation techniques for returning to sexual abstinence outside of a marital relationship, decision making, and communication skills.
- High school Health Credit:The Alternative for Students and Building Family Connections parent workshops will be offered within the community with the help of leaders or parents wishing to schedule a Friday evening & Saturday workshop covering the above topics in an interactive format.
Research: Teen-Aid is an experienced abstinence and character education organization founded in 1981. Whitworth University is the outside evaluator of the program for effectiveness. Table of Contents available upon request.
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