Why this material is important for students.
The carefully formatted modules of the INFORMED ADOLESCENCE® curriculum are designed by a social worker with decades of training and experience in sexual health, trauma-informed clinical mental health, human and family development, and self defense/martial arts training and instruction. Lessons unfold over the 4 years of middle school to provide children with school and community scaffolding – in partnership with families – which can support children as they lean into this stage of development. The Resilience modules support thinking and feeling, social and emotional development, and acceptance of self and others. The Sexual Health modules teach biological and developmental information as well as personal awareness and navigation of sexual thoughts, feelings, and sensations with a focus on personal, family, and community values. The modules teach students about active consent and support development of discernment skills regarding what is “for me” and “not for me” at each age and developmental stage. The Boundary Setting and Personal Safety modules teach useful real world strategies for assertiveness and body autonomy with practical skills for protection if necessary.
“The Informed Adolescence curriculum goes beyond traditional health education, addressing the multifaceted aspects of teens’ emotional, mental, and physical well-bing. This transformative curriculum meets students where they’re at, opening pathways of safe and informative communication between adolescents, parents, and teachers. Students who experience the Informed Adolescence curriculum will be equipped with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the complexities of adolescence in our ever-changing world.”
— Middle School Administrator
“As a parent of teenagers I truly appreciate the frankness and openness the INFORMED ADOLESCENCE curriculum fostered in my children. It gave them the language to set boundaries with one another at home, at school and with peers and adults—and to advocate for their own well-being—an amazing gift to any teenager in this day and age.”
— Parent of three former middle-school students
The world, in spite of our best attempts to protect a child’s youth or innocence, is increasingly fast-paced with abundant examples of overwhelming, violent, or highly sexualized content coming at young people from multiple directions. Assuming “that stuff” will just go over a child’s head or somehow not impact them could result in increased vulnerability to harm, confusion or mis-information, internalized shame, increased anxiety, or attempts to get information they are curious about through unsafe sources or incorrect/unreliable means.
These three areas of instruction are woven together to increase confidence and decrease potential overwhelm with practical, well-structured learning and engagement. They also provide a classroom container to lean into when inevitable social problems erupt by offering a structure and language for teachers and students to use to work through the challenge and restore connection.
“What I will remember as I head off to high school is not just one thing in particular—but just knowing the truth about things that you don’t usually get taught in school. Having a reliable source to talk openly about things—especially about drugs and alcohol, pregnancy and reproductive organs. You would be shocked at how many people my age don’t know about how their body works.”
“These lessons helped me learn so much about my own body, brains and feelings.”
“One thing I liked is that these lessons are easy to understand—not over complicated. They used simple but mature language. I enjoyed being able to have conversations rather than being talked at.”
— Eighth-Grade Students
The INFORMED ADOLESCENCE® curriculum has been developed over more than a decade to include these three areas of learning and practical skill development to meet the needs of the middle school child at or just before the time they might require the information. The years from 5th-8th grade are a time of rapid development of an individual rivaled only by the first 18 months of life. Physical body growth and change, intellectual capacity, emotional shifts, a growing sense of self and thirst for some autonomy become obvious for most young adolescents. Successful navigation of these developmental leaps requires useful fact-based information and skills from parents, teachers, and other trusted adults who can be seen as balanced, honest, and reliable resources. Adolescents who lack trusted resources are at risk to seek information from questionable sources.