Copyright 2025 Marline E. Pearson
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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 sexual decision making 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 sexual
decision-making. 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
from Scenarios USA (written by youth and produced by award-winning filmmakers) as
well as other visual media and role-plays on negotiation and refusal skills.
vi
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 sexual decision making 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 sexual
decision-making. 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
from Scenarios USA (written by youth and produced by award-winning filmmakers) as
well as other visual media and role-plays on negotiation and refusal skills.
