1. Introduction

In lesson 4 students learned about gender issues and the importance of equality between boys and girls. In lesson 3 they learned the importance of positive relationships with people close to them, including sharing feelings of love.

In this lesson, students will explore sexuality and sexual relationships. They will learn about sexuality, sexual feelings, sexual urge and arousal and sexual practices, including sexual intercourse and the differences between these.

The emphasis in this lesson is on making well informed and healthy decisions in the process of growing up: students explore whether and when they are ready for love and sex, using the R U Ready? test, how they can delay sexual activities and intercourse if they want to, and when sexually active, how they can have consensual, safe and enjoyable sex.

Students learn they have a choice from three safe and healthy options:
1: abstaining from all sexual contact
2: performing different, alternative sexual acts instead of sexual intercourse
3: having safe sexual intercourse using condoms.

In addition, they learn about growing more intimate with their partner step by step, how to define which intimacy level they are ready for and how to communicate their wishes and boundaries in a clear and assertive way.

4. Key Messages

1. Everyone is a sexual being. But sexuality, sex and sexual intercourse and having sex are not the same things.
2. Sex should be consensual, enjoyable and protected
3. We can all manage our sexual urges as we grow up – they shouldn’t rule us.
4. Your Big 3 Choices let you decide to have sex or not:
   1. You can abstain
   2. You can practise sexual activities without having sexual intercourse, or
   3. You can have intercourse, but remember: always with a condom!
5. Our choices must be thoughtful and we should follow the conditions of each choice. This way we can stay healthy and happy.
6. When you are in love, you can be intimate with each other in many ways – emotionally or physically, with or without sex or sexual intercourse. You can explore these activities step by step.
7. We can all set our own limits in physical and sexual contact, choose how fast or slow we want to go when being more intimate.
8. But whatever you do it should be consensual and you should respect the limits of yourself and your partner!

3. Lesson Aims

1. Students are introduced to the concepts of sexuality, sexual arousal and sexual urge, understand that sexuality is a fundamental and integral aspect of being human and that sexuality is more than just having sexual intercourse;
2. Students are aware of the major issues in determining if, when and why young people might start a sexual relationship with someone;
3. Students learn three ‘healthy’ and responsible strategies to cope with their sexual feelings, desires and urge;
4. Students are aware of different ways of enjoying their loving relationship without having sexual intercourse;
5. Students gain deeper insight into sexuality-related interactions between boys and girls and learn ways of being intimate to the level they are ready for and how to communicate, negotiate and refuse as well as how to be assertive.

4. Main Topics

The most important concepts being discussed in this lesson are:

1. Intimacy
2. Falling in love
3. Sex, sexuality, sexual intercourse
4. Sexual urge, sexual arousal and desires, hetero- and homosexuality
5. Abstinence
6. Protected sex, consensual & enjoyable sex.