1. Bell Ringer Open your student workbook to page 69.
Under the heading Journal Entry, write a few short sentences about how you think the choices a person makes about sex can affect his or her sexual health.

2. Unit 3: Abstinence, Personal & Sexual Health
Lesson 9: Abstinence: What’s in it for Me?

3. Healthy Behavior Outcomes
Be sexually abstinent.
Engage in behaviors that prevent or reduce unintended pregnancy.

4. Lesson Objectives By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
Describe benefits of sexual abstinence.
Summarize safe ways to express feelings of sexual attractions.
Justify why sexual abstinence is the safest, most effective risk-avoidance method of protection from HIV, other STDs and pregnancy.

6. What determines whether a person is abstinent or sexually active?

7. Summary
People are abstinent or sexually active based on the decisions they make and the limits they set around what kinds of sexual behaviors they’ll participate in.

8. Why do you think teens choose abstinence?

9. Summary
Teens choose abstinence for a variety of reasons. These include:
Not ready for sex
Want to avoid negative consequences of sexual activity
May have other priorities that don’t include dating or sex
May not feel sexually attracted to anyone
May have values or religious beliefs

10. Does a person have the right to choose not to have sex?
Why or why not?

11. Summary
Participating in sexual behaviors should always be a matter of choice.
Every person has the right to choose sexual abstinence and to say NO to sex.
Nobody has the right to pressure or force someone else to have sex.

12. Why do you think some teens choose to be sexually active?

13. Summary
Sometimes teens participate in sexual behaviors because they think it is what other teens are doing or because someone pressures them into it.
Teens may also engage in sexual activity because they are under the influence of alcohol or other drugs and are not making the choices they would make if they were sober.

14. If you had a friend who wanted to be abstinent, what would you say to support him or her?