A-H Requirements

The Choice Game has as its overall goal and purpose to exclusively teach the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity until marriage.

10 integrated parts include all of the A through H requirements:

Part 1- STDs Urban teaches youth about sexually risky behaviors that can lead to life long diseases and other consequences.

Part 2 - Drugs Urban explains the harmful effects of destructive substances and how they dramatically impair decision-making abilities.

Part 3 - Communications/Refusal Skills demonstrates for youth effective and ineffective communication strategies and shows youth to take control of their lives and stand up for what they believe in.

Part 4 - Influences Urban examines how sex is used to sell products including alcohol and cigarettes.  Teaches how poor decision making can lead to STDs, a broken heart or an unplanned pregnancy when faced with peer pressure involving marijuana, alcohol and sex.

Part 5 - Teen Pregnancy Urban examines a real life unplanned pregnancy from both the teen mother’s and father’s points of view including feelings, lifestyle changes, and lost opportunities that having a baby out of wedlock creates.

Part 6 - My Family/Myself teaches the changing relationships that youths have within their family and, explains how these relationships affect their decision-making.  Examples are provided of youths’ feelings of self-esteem and self-respect and the role that they play when faced with difficult choices.

Part 7 - STDs Midwest provides statistics and information that the only guaranteed protection is abstinence from sex until marriage, intravenous drug use and alcohol.

Part 8 - Drugs/Alcohol Midwest examines the harmful effects of destructive substances and how they dramatically impair decision-making abilities; teaches that under age drinking and illegal drugs can destroy lives and futures.

Part 9 - Influences Midwest explains the social, psychological and health gains realized by abstaining from non-marital sexual activity; teaches that human sexuality includes deep emotional and psychological aspects.

Part 10 - Teen Pregnancy Midwest curriculum has as its exclusive purpose to teach abstinence and is consistent with the abstinence-until-marriage message.

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Abstinence ONLY Curriculum

This curriculum addresses each of the A-H Requirements as follows:

A.  The Choice Game teaches:

• The physical health gains realized by abstaining from sexual activity until the context of faithful marriage. (Part 1)
• Sexual activity outside of marriage may result in non-marital pregnancy; teaches, in an age-appropriate manner, that bearing children out-of-wedlock may have harmful consequences for the child, parents and society as a whole. (Parts 1, 5 & 10)
• By abstaining from non-marital sexual activity, teens will have the ability to create healthy marriages that will benefit their future children. (Parts 1, 5 & 10)
• Students to ask for help from parents and adults who can support and reinforce abstinence-until-marriage decisions. (Parts 5, 8 & 10)
• The lack of commitment associated with non-marital sex may increase the potential for emotional harm; teaches that males and females view sex, intimacy, and commitment differently; teaches that abstinence may increase the freedom to enjoy emotional health by lessening the likelihood of experiencing the negative emotions teen involvement in premarital sexual activity. Being sexually active does not prove one is mature, successful or popular. (Parts 5 & 10)

B.  The Choice Game teaches:

• (B1) Through positive peer counseling that abstinence reflects qualities of personal integrity and is honorable; enhances future orientation, helping the young person who has chosen abstinence to develop and implement long-term life goals for themselves as individuals by surrounding themselves with positive peer role models. (Part 1, 4& 9) 
• (B1) Abstinences from sexual activity is the expected standard for all school-age children. (Part 7)
• (B2) Through “The Second Chance Club” that teens, who have been sexually active may choose to return to abstinence and are likely to improve their future well-being; enhances youths’ skills for improving risk assessment, healthy decision making, refusal skills and self-discipline concerning sexual activity. Students to ask for help from parents/adults who can support and reinforce abstinence-until-marriage decisions; teaches that committed caring relationships require respect for others, their feelings and their bodies. (Part 3)

C.  The Choice Game does not promote or encourage the use or combining of any contraceptives in order to make sex "safer."  The Choice Game teaches:

• (C1) The limitations of contraception to consistently prevent STDs. (Parts 1 & 10)
• (C1) Contraception may fail to prevent teen pregnancy and sexually active teens using contraception may become pregnant and teaches the published failure rates. (Part 3)  NOTE: No graphic images are used to display STDs.
• (C2) The epidemiology of STDs in the U.S., e.g., infection rates, modes of transmission, existence of incurable and potentially fatal STDs and provides references; follows the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases definition for STDs.  Sexually active teens increase the risk of contracting an STD with each additional sex partner. The adverse physical, emotional and socio-economic consequences associated with contracting an STD.  (Parts 1 & 7)
• (C2) Abstinence is the only certain way to avoid the sexual transmission of STDs and related health problems. (Parts 1, 4, 7 & 9) Abstinence decreases the potential for experiencing other associated health problems (e.g., infertility, chronic pelvic pain, liver disease, certain reproductive organ cancers, HIV/AIDS) (Part 10)

Scientific Evidence On Condom Effectiveness for STD prevention, June 2000, pg 14 prepared by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, July 20, 2001.

D.  The Choice Game teaches:

• (D1) Healthy human sexuality involves enduring fidelity, love and commitment; human happiness and well-being are associated with a stable, loving marriage. (Parts 3, 7 & 10)
• (D1) Sex can be fulfilling when practiced within the intimacy, love and commitment of marriage. (Parts 3 & 10)
• (D1 & D2) Non-marital sex can undermine the capacity for healthy marriage, love and commitment.  The difference between love and sex and the stages of emotional intimacy and bonding.  Males and females may view sex, intimacy, and commitment differently. The short-term and unstable nature of many teen sexual relationships. (Part 3)
• (D2) Teaches that the lack of commitment associated with non-marital sex may increase the potential for emotional harm. (Parts 4 & 9)

E.  The Choice Game teaches:

• (E1) The social, psychological and health gains realized by abstaining from non-marital sexual activity. (Part 10)
• (E1) Abstinence can increase the freedom to fulfill age-appropriate, psycho-social, developmental stages. (Part 5)
• (E2) Teens who are sexually active are also more likely to engage in other risk behaviors. (Part 4)
• (E2) Abstinence increases the potential of avoiding other high-risk behaviors, e.g., drug abuse, alcohol abuse, tobacco use and sexual violence. (Part 4 & 9)

F.  The Choice Game teaches:

• (F1) Marriage may greatly improve the well-being of children. (Parts 5, 6 & 10)
• (F 1) A healthy marriage will significantly decrease the likelihood that one's children will experience: physical, sexual, and/or emotional abuse or neglect; welfare dependence; poverty; drug or alcohol abuse; emotional and behavioral problems; academic failure; and incarceration. (Part 5 & 10)
• (F 2) Males who father children out-of-wedlock may face substantial child support payments for the next 18 years and other legal obligations. (Part 10)
• (F2) Bearing children out-of-wedlock increases the likelihood a mother will live in poverty and experience delay with achieving desired life goals (Parts 5 & 10)

G.  The Choice Game teaches:

• (G1) The value of building and maintaining a healthy relationship free from sexual involvement. (Part 2 & 3)
• (G1) A sense of personal efficacy, creating a strong personal understanding that significant life goals are personally attainable and that current conduct can lead to goal attainment.  Provides skills for maintaining independent personal standards regarding abstinence and for resisting negative peer influences. Abstinence is a means of developing discipline, self-awareness, decision-making and goal-setting behaviors. (Part 3, 6 & 8)
• (G2) Teaches techniques and skills to help young people reject sexual advances or participate in alcohol, tobacco and drug use and maintain the expected standard of abstinence. (All Parts)
• (G2) Skills for maintaining independent personal standards regarding abstinence until marriage and for resisting negative peer influences. (Part 2)
• (G2) How to avoid settings that involve potential interaction with sexually suggestive material (e.g., music, movies, TV, and  Internet) (Parts 4 & 9)
• (G2) How to set and communicate boundaries and avoid settings and circumstances commonly associated with an increased likelihood of sexual advances. (Part 8)
• (G3) Drugs lead to confusion, broken dreams, unplanned pregnancies, various STDs and other diseases. (Part 2)
• (G3) Skills on helping a friend refocus on more positive life-skills including education and career goal-setting, through using  school guidance officers. (Part 2)

H. The Choice Game teaches:

• Males who father children out-of-wedlock may face substantial child support payments for the next 18 years and other legal obligations (Part10).
• Greater financial/emotional obligations of having a baby before marriage. (Part 5)
• The relationship between self-sufficiency and abstinence until marriage. (Part 3)

Future Topics

Suicide/depression; Internet safety; versions for Down’s Syndrome, Autistic, Hearing Impaired, Hispanic and Native Americans.