In this research study of 153 college-bound students, perceived sexual benefits of alcohol use were associated with greater drinking and related consequences during the senior year of high school and freshman year of college. Perceived benefits predicted drinking outcomes during fall after adjustment for gender, sensation seeking, parental education, and the corresponding outcome in high school. Inadequately addressed concerns about sexual pleasure may lead to high-risk drinking among subsets of youth. Sexuality education programs delivered in high school should address concerns about sexual pleasure and highlight advantages of refraining from alcohol use with respect to developing healthy and satisfying relationships.

While virtually all sex education books for teenagers focus on sexual health, Jo Langford's The Sex EDcyclopedia offers comprehensive and empowering information specifically for teen males about their sexuality and how it may be positively experienced. This review examines the strengths of The Sex EDcyclopedia as a sex education resource and highlights some opportunities for improvement.

This review discusses the unique audiovisual-based curriculum Mike's Crush, by Nancy Nowell, and briefly describes the autism spectrum and its associated challenges. The review explores the curriculum's noteworthy approach to teaching social skills and recommends it as helpful material for all educators, especially for those working with students on the autism spectrum.

In order for adolescents to undergo a healthy maturation into adulthood, they must be given common opportunities to reinvent themselves and to progress along stages of psychosocial development. Due to heterosexual conditioning and a lack of awareness of the need for social connectivity that may lead to intimacy, gay and lesbian adolescents lapse into social isolation which could lead to arrested psychosocial development. The introduction of literature circles concerning carefully chosen adolescent queer literature is one positive opportunity that can and should be made accessible to gay and lesbian adolescents in order to offset barriers to social connectivity.

Big Decisions is a 10-lesson abstinence-plus curriculum for ages 12–18 that emphasizes sex as a big decision, abstinence as the healthiest choice, and the mandate that sexually active teens use condoms and be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. This program can be implemented with limited resources and facilitator training when abstinence must be vigorously promoted. The content, including contraceptives, is well researched and cited. Weaknesses include references to abstinence without definition until Lesson 5 and scant attention to sexually active students except to mention they can decline sex in the future (safer sex is addressed in a supplemental lesson).

Two hundred and fourteen (214) parents of young children (M age = 6.75 years) were surveyed about their plans for sexuality discussions with their children. Parents were asked to indicate when they would first discuss sex education with their children for 15 specific topics, how effective they perceived themselves to be at discussing each topic, and to describe their experiences receiving sex education from their own parents. Parents reported being educated mostly by their mothers and rated both of their parents as ineffective educators. Compared to a similar survey of parents conducted in 1982, parents in the current study intended to discuss sexual abuse at an earlier age but to delay discussing genital differences, birth, and reproduction. Compared to fathers, mothers intended to discuss sexuality at earlier ages and anticipated being more effective. Intended age of discussion differed between ethnic groups and between parents who described themselves as being religious versus not religious. Parents’ intentions to discuss varied between sons and daughters for certain topics, and there were two topics that a considerable number of parents did not intend to discuss with their children (i.e., masturbation and nocturnal emissions). Suggestions for helping parents communicate more comfortably with their young children about sexuality topics are offered.

Research has shown that the correct and consistent use of the male latex condom is the single most efficient, cost-effective way to reduce the sexual transmission of HIV and other infections. Yet information must be communicated in a way that is clearly understood and actually contributes to behavior change for both women and men. Anatomical dolls, cloth dolls with actual displays of sexual body parts, can be an effective component of any participatory, learner-centered HIV/AIDS prevention program, particularly when demonstrating the correct manner in which to use male latex condoms. Anatomical dolls are nonthreatening educational tools that help facilitate communication by visually demonstrating safe sex practices and minimizing the communication problems inherent in talking about sexual issues. Dolls can reduce embarrassment, confusion, language and cultural barriers. Dolls allow learners to become familiar with sexual body parts, engage in role play, and practice condom usage in a safe, appropriate manner. Anatomical dolls make things easier for the educator and clearer for the learners. This article profiles two programs, Planned Parenthood in Bend, Oregon, and the AIDS Orphans Skills Center in Mozambique, Africa, that have successfully used the anatomical dolls in HIV/AIDS prevention programs. These are two very different programs, yet audiences share a common success.

In this article, the author expands our definition of “comprehensive sexuality education,” broadening the discourse to something more ideal than what current rhetoric seems to suggest, and in the process presents the rationale for real comprehensive sexuality education. Current definitions of comprehensive sexuality education focus on prevention of teen pregnancy and transmission of STDs and HIV, as well as protection from abuse and information about puberty. We talk about education “that works,” referring to those programs that have been proven by research, while knowing that research has focused only on prevention programs. Nobody has “proven” a broader, more comprehensive, positive sexuality education through peer-reviewed research. Yet we do know, from research about how people learn, from research on youth development programs, from all the wisdom of all the counselors and therapists and educators who have worked with youth, what really works.

ABSTRACT The examination of gender roles and stereotypes and their subsequent impact on sexual behavior is a concept for discussion in many sex education courses in college and sex education units in high school. This analysis often leads to a discussion of the impact of nature vs. nurture on gender roles. The gender roles scavenger hunt is an interactive learning experience that requires students to examine societal influences on gender roles. As part of this examination, students identify characteristics and behaviors society deems normal and appropriate for males and females and discuss what occurs when people act outside their gender roles.