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Healthy Relationships and Marriage Education Technical Assistance and Training Opportunities Research-based Theory and Methodology South Carolina Healthy Family Formation Coalition
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Personalizing the Possibilities On the second day of teaching Heritage Keepers® Abstinence Education at a rural high school in the Lowcountry of SC, the class of students seemed very tired and somewhat disinterested. The class, comprised of mostly upper classmen, began by discussing values and goals the students had chosen to share with the rest of the class. One group of three students had mostly kept to themselves the first day and through the first part of day two of Heritage Keepers® Abstinence Education. In noticing this isolation from the discussion and other students, the Heritage educator began engaging these students in conversation. The Heritage educator conversed mostly with the one young man who seemed to be the person whom the others followed. In doing so, the other two students in the group began to participate in discussion. The three young men had not said one word in class discussion until this point. As discussion led into an activity within the Heritage Keepers® Abstinence Education program, the three students seemed more interested, yet still much closed to the idea that abstinence could be a very realistic option for them. The activity the class had started involved the risks that are taken when people choose to participate in sexual activity outside of marriage. Further, this activity reveals how easy it would be for someone to contract an STD or cause an untimely pregnancy. When the Heritage educator used a hypothetical situation involving the three students, the students quickly became interested and very assertive in the class discussion. At this point, the students began to realize that they are not immune to the consequences which come with having sex outside of marriage. As a result, the group of three students began to realize that abstinence was something that, although not an easy chore for young men their age, needed to become a real goal in their lives. The remaining classes in the Heritage Keepers® Abstinence Education program at this rural high school were very involved, enthusiastic, and most definitely changed perspectives of young men who once had zero intentions of changing their lifestyles.
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