Sex Ed Saves

Sex Ed Saves: Amplifying Youth Voice through Sex-Positive Education addresses the needs of youth, not just for sexual health, but also for sexual rights and identities, through a range of interactive and expressive activities that engage all learning styles. Lessons range from anatomy, pregnancy and reproduction, to media justice, healthy relationships and advocacy. The young people, ages 16-22, who wrote this book are trained as peer educators who facilitate shame-free, medically accurate sex ed at Chicago Public Schools and around the state. Now they're publishing an instructor's manual for grades 6-12 that aligns with the National Sexuality Education Standards and the Common Core -- the first curriculum of its kind. The curriculum includes 18 modules, activities, and materials in this new 190-page comprehensive sexuality education curriculum instructor manual. This curriculum focuses on sexual identity, related to a person's sense of their own sexuality and gender identity; sexual health, including information on reducing the risk of unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections (STIs); and sexual rights, focusing on relevant Illinois laws addressing adolescent sexuality (with recommendations for locating that information for other states as well so that you can follow the same module). The comprehensive sexuality education curriculum is: Medically Accurate Developmentally & Age-Appropriate Culturally Sensitive Trauma-Informed Harm and Risk Reductive Sex Positive and Pleasure-Centered Inclusive of Youth of All Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities Pro-Choice The Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH) is a network of empowered youth and allied adults who transform public consciousness and increase the capacity of family, school, and healthcare systems to support the sexual health, rights, and identities of youth. ICAH's sexuality education curriculum is in accordance with ICAH's mission, vision, and reproductive justice, and youth development frameworks. ICAH believes that all youth should be safe, affirmed, and healthy. Comprehensive sexuality education (synonymous with sex education) teaches about all elements of a person's sexuality, including social, cultural, physical, and emotional contributors. Comprehensive sexuality education also teaches interpersonal and communication skills, leading youth to explore their own values, goals, and options.