Project SIGHT

ALL AGES:

• They are loved!
• Showing love between family members is important.
• Sexuality is a gift to be used responsibly.
• Parents are willing to talk.
• Be able to ask trusted adults questions about sexuality.

INFANTS:

• Be touched and held close.
• Freely explore their bodies.
• Be taught correct names for body parts.
• Encouraged and supported in learning body functions, i.e. toilet training.

PRESCHOOLERS - Age 5:

• Correct names for body parts and eliminations.
• Understand a how fetus grows inside a mother's body.
• Anatomical differences between males and females.
• Male and female roles and healthy attitudes about sexuality.
• How a mother and father make a baby together.
• Understand that their bodies belong to themselves and that they have a right to say "No" to unwanted touch.
• Understand the concept that a woman does not have to have a baby unless she wants to.
• Be able to talk about body parts without a sense of "naughtiness."
• Know that "sex talk" is for private times at home.

AGES 6-9:

• Learn about family living patterns.
• Be aware that all creatures reproduce themselves.
• Knowledge of animal and/or human reproduction.
• More information on roles and values.
• Have a grasp on different types of caring home backgrounds, so that no single type is seen as the only possible one.
• Begin to question stereotyped gender roles and feel free to behave independently of them.
• Understand the basic facts about AIDS.
• Take an active role in managing their body's health and safety.
• Be able to enumerate ways to develop, maintain, and end friendships.

AGES 10-13 (in addition to developing earlier skills):

• Human reproduction, including
• an understanding of human sexuality as a natural part of life (by 12-13)
• the legitimacy and normalcy of sexual feelings
• the idea that sex is pleasurable as well as the way to make a baby - the realization that sexual acts can be separated from reproductive acts
• the biological components of the reproductive cycle including the probability of pregnancy with unprotected vaginal intercourse
• what abortion is
• how male and female bodies grow and differ

• Contraception, including the knowledge that:
• no one has to become a parent
• it is possible to plan parenthood
• having a child is a long-term responsibility, and every child deserves mature, responsible, loving parents
• contraceptives exist (should be able to name some and how to obtain them)

• The changes they can expect in their bodies before puberty (ages 9-11), including:
• range of times at which normal developmental changes begin, including normal differences in male and female timing of these events
• the general stages of the body's growth
• menstruation and wet dreams
• the fact that emotional changes are to be expected during this time

• Recognition of the ways in which behavior can be interpreted as sexual, and how to deal with such interpretation (by 12-13), including:
• recognition that masturbation is very common, and reassurance that it is normal to masturbate - but only in private
• recognition of and protection against potential sexual abuse and how to react to such dangers
• recognition of male and female prostitution and its dangers

• Sexually transmitted infections (STIs):
• how transmitted
• how prevented
• how treated

• How to be a good friend and how to end a relationship without anger.
• The purposes and considerations of dating.
• An awareness of potential for damage in exploitive relationships.
• What are or should be appropriate roles for young women and men, an awareness of the differences between biological gender and socially-assigned gender roles.
• Knowledge of diverse family structures, of the relationships among family members, and how families fit into society.
• Clarification of values and parental guidance.
• Social skills and dating patterns.
• Family rules.
• Sexual pleasuring
• Feeling good about yourself and open discussion are important.
• Hetero and homosexual behavior.

AGES 14-19:

• Human sexuality, including:
• recognition of the impact of media presentations that depict sexual involvement
• the understanding of differences in sexual behavior, including heterosexuality, homosexuality, celibacy, marriage
• an articulated value system about interpersonal relations, including sexual behavior
• contraceptive alternatives
• sexually transmitted infections - causes/cures

• Social pressures, including:
• a demonstrated awareness of the potentially harmful consequences of sexual relationships
• an understanding of the right not to have sexual relations

• Personal relationships, including:
• the ability to have and maintain friends
• the ability to identify expectations of marriage, e.g., emotional support, companionships, child rearing, etc.
• information on changing relationships in families over time
• an awareness of the mixture of independence and responsibility needed at their age

• Education about parenthood, including:
• the ability to demonstrate knowledge of the stages of gestation
• knowledge of the basics of child care and child development, including sexual development
• knowledge of the responsibilities of parenthood
• ability to discuss how they believe children should be raised

• Values, decision making skills, goals, lifestyles.
• Difference between freedom and permissiveness.
• Responsibility in relationships.

 Tips for parents | Healthy Sexuality 

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