Teen Sexual Health

Training Teen Health Educators

Overview | Building A Perfect Teen Sexual Health Educator | Sexual Health Facili-Nightmares

Peer Education Skills: Building A Perfect Teen Sexual Health Educator

Learning Objective: Participants will articulate the ideal skills, attitudes, knowledge, and qualities of an effective teen sexual health educators. This will help them develop their own approach.

Resources:

• Building a Perfect Teen Sexual Health Educator Activity

Time: 40 minutes

Materials:

• Sheets of flipchart paper, markers and tape
• Handout: Tips for Being an Effective Teen Sexual Health Educator

Procedure:

• Divide participants into small groups of no more than four people.
• Have each group creates a drawing of "The Perfect Teen Sexual Health Educator." This picture should show-through words and/or symbols-the qualities, skills, knowledge, and attitudes that make someone effective in this role. Give groups about 6 - 10 minutes for this part of the activity, depending on how busy they seem.
• Have small groups share their drawings Record the words they have written on the board.
• When all the groups have finished, ask:
  • What did you notice about each of the drawings?
  • What were some of the similarities? Differences?
  • What's important about these qualities?
  • Is it possible for one person to have all these qualities?
  • How do we develop these qualities in ourselves?
  • How do we support our team members to develop these qualities?
  • Reassure participants that this list is something to work towards, and that developing these qualities is part of their journey. No one expects them to be the perfect teen sexual health educator at the start of the journey. It's a learning process. Sometimes things go well and other times they don't.
• Handout Tips for Being an Effective Teen Sexual Health Educator.

 

Tips for Being an Effective Teen Health Educator Handout

Tip 1: Have a plan for the direction of the workshop and the key messages you want students to take away from the workshop. There inevitably will be lots of tangents that could sidetrack you. At the same time, there is a limited amount of time to accomplish a lot of learning. Always keep the goal of the workshop in mind when deciding what to focus on and what to acknowledge but move on from. Although you may not touch on everything that is brought up, trust that the participants will get the overall objective of the workshop. You are the guide on this journey. If you are lost, the group will be lost.

Tip 2: Keep on track and maintain an engaging pace. Have a rough estimate of how much time to spend on each part of the workshop. Wear a watch. And pay attention to your participants' energy and body language. It's easy to lose track of time or lose your participants' attention. You need to keep things moving to keep people engaged.

Tip 3: Stick within your scope. Provide information that fits within the scope of your training and the program you are delivering. The workshops in this resource are designed to provide a comfortable environment for teens to explore broad social issues affecting sexual behaviour and decisions. This, in turn, is meant to encourage safer sex through healthy decision-making. The resource is not designed for you to provide detailed information on STIs, HIV, pregnancy, birth control options, testing, etc. You do not want to mislead participants by providing information that you do not completely know. Make a referral instead.

Tip 4: Your role is to teach about safer sex, not how to have sex. When it comes to sexuality, there is a fine line between enough and appropriate information and too much and inappropriate information. You want participants to know there are four basic kinds of sex and that they are: digital, oral, vaginal, and anal. You only need to provide an idea of these types of sex and ensure that the participants know there are risks associated with them. It is not your job to train participants in the details of how to have sex. If they introduce a greater range of information, define things quickly and move on. For example, if lists of sexual positions are brought up in a brainstorm, write down "positions" and say that this covers all positions. Then redirect their attention to other topics.

Tip 5: Keep personal agendas out of the classroom. This can be difficult sometimes as you may have a personal desire to deal with something that is close to your heart. Take time to reflect on whether it moves you closer to the goal of the workshop and program before going into it.

Tip 6: Know when to intervene and when to move along. There are situations that you must deal with and refer on to other professionals (homophobia, sexual abuse) and others that may be annoying but can be passed over. Make sure you move along in a way that facilitates learning but does not take over the workshop.

Tip 7: Work to find the balance of appropriate and inappropriate youth friendliness. You are expected to be a positive role model. What does this mean? What are participants learning from you during the workshop and in the school? Is this what you want them to learn? It is normal for people to seek social approval from their peers. Make sure that the way you present yourself fits with the message you are trying to deliver through the workshops.

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