Ninth Grade Family Life Education (FLE)

Grade Nine Instructional Objectives - Emotional and Social Health

9.1 Student will identify the family as a basic unit of society and his or her responsibility as a member of the family.

Descriptive Statement: Topics may include the function of the family, different types of families, family strengths, family influences on society, identification of roles within a family, and how those roles change throughout life. Students will compare and contrast their roles now with their possible roles in the future.

9.2 Students will identify types of abuse and exploitation and identify prevention strategies and resources for help.

Descriptive Statement: Topics will include emotional, verbal, physical, and sexual abuse, neglect, human (teen sex) trafficking, and sexting. Prevention strategies will include Internet safety and personal safety in the community. Resources for help will include talking with a trusted adult (parent/guardian, school personnel, health care provider, and religious leader) and community resources (support groups, law enforcement).

9.3 Students will identify effects, prevention strategies, and appropriate resources for help and reporting for sexual abuse.

Descriptive Statement: Topics will include sexual assault, rape, intimate partner violence, incestuous behavior, molestation, gang sexual abuse, human (teen sex) trafficking, and incest. Instruction will include bystander awareness and intervention strategies. Resources for help and reporting for self and others include parents, school personnel, religious leaders, health care providers, and community resources.

9.4 Student will identify factors that contribute to healthy relationships in families, friendships, and dating.

Descriptive Statement: Topics may include communication skills, conflict resolution, respect for others’ decisions, identification of coercive behaviors, establishing and maintaining personal boundaries, and affirmative consent.

9.5 Students will define pornography and identify implications for healthy relationships.

Descriptive Statement: Pornography will be defined and discussed as it relates to healthy relationships, personal boundaries, and consent.

9.6 Students will identify the short- and long-term consequences of recording, possessing, sharing, and distributing sexually explicit media.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include potential present and future social, emotional, educational, and legal implications. Distribution of sexually explicit media includes texting, social media, and other means of communication.

Grade Nine Media - Emotional and Social Health

"Bystander Intervention: Putting a Stop to Sexual Assault" - Human Relations Media, 21 minutes (2017)

This video dramatizes the Kitty Genovese case in Kew Gardens, Queens, New York. When observers do not step in to stop an assault it is called the Bystander Effect. This video explains the basics and principles of bystander intervention.

Using dramatizations viewers are taught three ways to stop a sexual assault:

• Intervene directly.
• Create a distraction.
• Call for help from others nearby.

Real teens who have intervened in attempted sexual assaults talk about how they followed the principles and stopped an attempted sexual assault.

"Tricked: Inside the World of Teen Sex Trafficking" - Fairfax Network, 8:42 minutes (2014)

Avoiding Risky Behaviors: Tips on how you can protect yourself – both in public and online - from becoming a victim of sex trafficking.

Grade Nine Instructional Objectives—Human Growth and Development

9.1 Students will review the structures and functions of the male and female reproductive systems and explain the process of fertilization.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include human reproductive anatomy, physiology, conception, ovulation, and fertilization.

9.2 Students will describe pregnancy and birth and analyze factors associated with a healthy pregnancy.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include signs and symptoms of pregnancy, stages of pregnancy, fetal development, stages of childbirth, and birthing options. Topics will include preconception and prenatal care, and effects of substance use on pregnancy and fetal development. Instruction will include roles of the mother and father during pregnancy and birth. Community resources for pregnancy testing and further information are identified.

9.3 Students will identify sexual abstinence as the appropriate choice for adolescents and identify appropriate methods for expressing feelings and affection. 

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include benefits of choosing sexual abstinence, consequences of sexual activity, and appropriate methods for expressing feelings and affection. Students will learn that anyone who has been sexually active can make a new decision for premarital abstinence. Instruction will include effective strategies for abstinence, maintaining respect for self and others such as communication, assertiveness, and recognition of personal boundaries.

9.4 Students will examine methods of contraception.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include barrier, hormonal, and surgical contraceptive methods; identification of effectiveness for prevention of pregnancy and minimizing risk of sexually transmitted infection; and misconceptions regarding contraception. Abstinence will be emphasized as the only 100% effective method for preventing pregnancy and the most effective method for preventing sexually transmitted infection.

9.5 Students will review information about bacterial, viral, and parasitic sexually transmitted infections to include prevention, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include review of bacterial, viral, and parasitic STIs; and prevention, transmission, diagnosis, and treatment.  Community resources for testing and treatment will be identified.  Abstinence from sexual activity will be presented as the most effective method for prevention of sexually transmitted infections.  Abstinence from intravenous drug use and use of condoms and use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (HIV prevention) as means of prevention will also be presented.

9.6 Students will recognize development of sexuality as a lifelong aspect of personality.

Descriptive Statement: Instruction will include that individuals are sexual beings from birth to death and that sexuality evolves from infancy to old age.  Sexual orientation terms heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual; and the gender identity term transgender will be defined.  Students with questions or concerns about their sexual orientation or gender identity will be advised to talk with a parent or other trusted adults such as members of clergy and health care providers. Emphasis will be placed on tolerance and nondiscrimination of all people.

Grade Nine Media - Human Growth and Development

From Conception to Birth, Discovery School, 2006. (25 minutes)

This newly updated program begins by reviewing the reproductive systems of both men and women and then provides viewers with information about modern birth control options. Through helpful vignettes and medical guidance, the program discusses the forms and functions of the major types of birth control: male and female barrier methods, monthly hormonal contraception, progestin-only methods, intrauterine contraception, sterilization, abstinence, and emergency contraception. Viewers will appreciate this straightforward presentation, which empowers them to take control of their bodies and their futures.