Copyright 2023 Marline E. Pearson vi Sex—It’s More than Bodies, Risks, and Protection Love Notes contains an important missing piece in sexual decision-making and STI and pregnancy prevention by addressing relationship issues. After all, sex is a relationship issue. For example, can young people make wise sexual choices if they: • Have never clarified what’s important to them in a partner or relationship? • Know little about how to distinguish between healthy and unhealthy, unequal and/or abusive relationships? • Lack communication and negotiation skills? • Have never defined for themself a context for sex that is personally meaningful? Young people are rarely asked to think about sex beyond the usual health paradigm of anatomy, bio-reproduction, STIs/HIV, and risk avoidance. But sex is also about aspirations and the heart. If young people have never considered what deepening levels of physical intimacy mean to them (and how to discern if their partner is on the same page), then how are they to make wise sexual decisions? Sex is not just about bodies, risks, and protection. It’s about knowing one’s self and one’s values and knowing what one wants for any level of sexual involvement to mean. It’s about having a personal sense of what a positive and meaningful context for intimate involvement would be for themselves. It’s also about possessing the skills and confidence to navigate this terrain. Love Notes takes a health- and heart-based approach to sexuality and provides unique ways to tap motivation from a positive angle. Sexual decision-making is embedded within a rich exploration of intimacy and the development of healthy relationships. Activities guide participants in cultivating their own North Star for sexuality. They are asked to develop goals, boundaries, and a context and pace for sexual intimacy that is responsible, protective of their own aspirations in life, and personally meaningful. Whatever their sexual choices, Love Notes encourages sexual ethics, i.e., that mutuality, kindness, caring about the other’s feelings and experience, and equality are important. Young people will examine some of the essential conversations to have to discover if partners are on the same page. This is vital not only for meaningful consent but also for a mutually positive sexual experience. Finally, in their private journal, participants will develop a personal plan for their sexual choices. Medically accurate information on pregnancy, STIs, contraception, and condoms is included. This information and decision-making challenges are reinforced through films