Finally, and most importantly, LCSE is for the purpose of risk assessment, which means that sex education is meant to mitigate negative consequences such as unwanted
pregnancies and STIs. By focusing on the consequences of people’s sexual actions, LCSE is similar to PSE in that it is a method to change people’s sexual behavior; however, it differs in the way in which it makes the students more aware of the possible risks that could come about from sexual activity rather than proposing a complete avoidance of sexual activity altogether such as PSE would have it.
255 See Maile Marriott. “These New Utah Sex Ed Changes Could Help Prevent Sexual Harassment. Here's How.” DeseretNews.com. July 27, 2018. (Accessed November 18, 2018.)
https://www.deseretnews.com/article/900026035/this-new-utah-sex-ed-bill-could-help-prevent-sexual- harassment-heres-how.html.
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The common method of LCSE is to teach students to avoid sexual risk by either remaining abstinent or how to use contraceptives. Here are some examples to capture LCSE goals. These curricula come from states that have the lowest teen pregnancy rates:
● the Reducing the Risk curriculum had eight course assessments of what they were teaching, but the health goal was the same in all eight assessments: “To prevent teen pregnancy, HIV and other STDs.”256
● Teen Outreach Program’s goal is to also mitigate risky behaviors and develop into healthy adults257 by integrating good life decision skills and volunteering in
the community. The audience is meant for those who have academic problems or at risk youth and those who need to develop their competence skills such as communication skills, assertiveness, decision-making, clarifying values.
● Safer Sex is meant for high risk female adolescents who have been diagnosed with an STI. One of the benefits is that it involves a one-on-one session with a female clinician in which the student learns how to administer condoms and have the opportunity to ask questions. The students also come back for a follow-up. The goal is to change female adolescents’ behavior in order to reach the health goal of “[p]reventing STI recurrence and unintended pregnancy among adolescent girls and young women.”258
● Making Proud Choices is meant for adolescents in middle school. Their
curriculum is the same as the previous curricula assessed in that their goal is to
256 Lezin et. al., 14-27.
257See “Teen Outreach Program” Teen Outreach Program (TOP). 2017. (Accessed November 18, 2018.) http://teenoutreachprogram.com/. Even though pregnancy prevention is a main consequence of this program, less than 15% is considered comprehensive sex education.
258 Regina Ferpo-Triplett, Pat Rex, Lydia A. Shrier. Safer Sex Intervention: Adaptation Kit. Scotts Valley, CA: ETR Associates, 2011. (Accessed Aug. 19, 2018.)
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change students’ behavior so as to reduce their risk of an unwanted pregnancy or contracting an STI. This program teaches that the best way to reduce the risk—if students should choose to have sex—is to use condoms. The program tries to empower students in order to change their behavior to reduce sexual risk. The exercises in the classroom are to “increase comfort with practicing condom use, address concerns about negative effects of practicing safer sex, and build skills in condom use and negotiation.”259
● Becoming a Responsible Teen had eight sessions in their curriculum. The sessions each had multiple activities. In all of these sessions, they had one (health) goal in mind: “Decrease HIV infection among African-American adolescents ages 14– 18,” which is done by focusing on abstinence and condom usage.260
● All4You! has a curriculum which focuses on students in alternative high schools. The aim of this program is to reduce the frequency of unprotected sex among participants. Like the rest of the curricula, it explicitly states that the goal is
“[p]reventing HIV, other STDs, and pregnancy among young people in alternative education settings” and the way to do this is to change the students’ behavior by “reducing the frequency of unprotected intercourse” and “using contraception.”261
● Be Proud! Be Responsible! Be Protective! targets those who are already pregnant and parenting teens and helps them make healthy sexual decisions and decrease
259 See “Making Proud Choices! Overview of the Curriculum.” ReCAPP: Theories & Approaches: Health Belief Model (HBM). (Accessed November 18, 2018.)
http://recapp.etr.org/recapp/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.ebpDetail&PageID=128.
260 Lori Rolleri, Nicole Lezin, Julie Taylor, Claire Moore, Mary Martha Wilson, Taleria R. Fuller, Regina Ferpo-Triplett, Janet S. St. Lawrence. Becoming a Responsible Teen: Adaptation Kit. Scotts Valley, CA: ETR Associates, 2011. (Accessed Aug. 19, 2018.)
http://recapp.etr.org/recapp/documents/programs/BART_Adaptation_Kit.pdf, 14-35.
261 Karin Coyle, Pat Rex, and Julie Taylor. All4You!: Adaptation Kit. Scotts Valley, CA: ETR Associates, 2011. (Accessed Aug. 19, 2018.)
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risky sexual behavior. To change behavior, adolescents need information about how risky unprotected sexual activity can be, but also ways to develop skills and confidence to act safely.
● Be Proud! Be Responsible! is similar to Be Proud! Be Responsible! Be Protective! except this program is meant for students in general and not just for those who are already pregnant or parenting teens. The goals and curriculum are virtually the same.
● Teen Health Project focuses on urban, low-income youth by teaching them to increase abstinence or condom usage.
● Perhaps the most involved program is FOCUS: Preventing Sexually Transmitted Infections and Unwanted Pregnancies among Young Women, which targets young women so as to encourage them to practice healthy behavior and responsible decision making. The program is mostly used in New Hampshire, the state with the lowest teen pregnancy rate in the USA. Since the program contains much mature graphic content, it may not be recommended for those under the age of 16. What makes the program unique is there is no cost for participating in the
program, and upon completion of the program, each participant receives $50 gift card. Thereafter, participants can receive another $50 gift card to complete follow-up surveys at four months and 12 months after their completion of the program. The FOCUS curriculum grant was written in collaboration with Miami University’s Department of nursing, which utilizes third year nursing students as “peer educators.” They teach the program and are role models for the students that they teach. Moreover, the nursing students will receive credit for their service
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learning requirement and also gain information which will be helpful for their professional careers.262 Notice the goal of these programs is to change students’
choices such that they have to freedom to choose their preferences. But if they make wrong choices—meaning choosing an unwanted consequence—then they ought to be (re-)educated according to LCSE standards.