Choose Life – Helping Youth Develop Skills for Healthy Relationships

Choose Life - Guide for Peer Educators and Youth Leaders for Helping Youth Develop Skills for Healthy Relationships

Making changes in behavior requires more than just new knowledge and new attitudes; new skills are required. Six skills have been identified to help youth make the transition towards healthy behavior change. After every few sessions, a new skill is introduced. Youth are given time to discuss, practice the skill, and make commitments to keep them. As youth demonstrate success with each skill, their confidence grows (as well as their self-efficacy). This encouragement helps to move them towards a long-term commitment for a healthy relationship choice.

The Choose Life Guide for Peer Educators and Youth Leaders provides detailed lesson plans for interactive learning sessions. It uses an easy-to-follow format with many helpful reminders and notes. The activities are designed to make learning fun and active. They include stories, learning games and activities.

This guide focuses on youth, male and female, aged 15 and older.

 

Table of Contents

Session 1 • Being Yourself, Being Content

Session 2 •Good Communication

Session 3 •Communicating a message with confidence [Skill 1]

Session 4 •Choosing a Good Mentor

Session 5 •Making Good Choices [Skill 2]

Session 6 •Mentor and Me Meeting

Session 7 •Understanding Sexuality 

Session 8 •Communicating your Relationship Boundaries [Skill 3]

Session 9 •Overcoming Obstacles to Abstinence [Skill 4]

Session 10 •I Am Able!

Session 11 •Right to Say “No” to Sexual Advances

Session 12 •Saying no with your voice, body and actions [Skill 5]

Session 13 •Consequences of Misused Sexuality

Session 14 •Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)

Session 15 •Does Abstinence Work?

Session 16 •Making a Commitment

Session 17 •Risk Reduction Options

Commitment to Abstinence

Session 18 •Strategies for Maintaining Abstinence

Session 19 •Maintaining My Commitments

Session 20 •Caring For People Living With HIV

Session 21 • Gender Roles and [Skill 6]    

Discussion Guide for Choose Life Sessions

Talking to Youth Guide

Resources

Resource A: Additional Information about HIV and AIDS

Resource B: Three-Part Role-play for HIV Prevention

 

You can download a sample electronic version here and then purchase a hard copy from the MAR Regional Discipleship Ministries Office.