Tips for Implementing the Stop, Think, Be Safe! Program

Tips before getting started

• Be sure to view the video prior to showing it to your class.
• Be prepared for difficult questions. This means exploring your own feelings about youth, sexuality, and STDs ahead of time and acknowledging that everyone has different ideas about what is and isn't OK. It also means being honest about not knowing answers and knowing where to help young people get more information in case there is a question you cannot answer right away.
• Encourage your students to discuss this project with their parents or guardians. Suggested handouts and activities that children can utilize with their parents are located throughout the guide.
• Have local and State hotline and information numbers on hand and ready for referral before initiating the Stop, Think, Be Safe! intervention. You will find many phone numbers in the Blue Pages of the guide.
• Be aware of—and prepared to respond to—those youth who have had or are having sexual experiences against their will. You should be familiar with your State laws and procedures for reporting child sexual abuse.
• Provide young people with an opportunity to ask questions anonymously. Passing out index cards for questions or having an anonymous question box placed in the room are excellent ways to elicit questions that kids may be reluctant to ask aloud in front of the classroom or even one on one.
• Seek the support of your peers to help identify strategies for dealing with tricky issues.
• Use faculty training days to review and prepare to implement this program. Be sure to include nurses, counselors, and other school or site staff members who may be affected by the implementation of the intervention.

Recommended lessons related to the Stop, Think, Be Safe! intervention

For you to be most effective, we recommend implementing this intervention within a larger context of information. This intervention could be used to begin any of the following lessons or could be worked into them as part of a series. Some examples of topic areas that are extremely relevant to the content provided in the video and facilitator's guide include:

• Basic human biology (including sexuality and reproductive anatomy);
• Puberty (including physical, emotional, and social changes);
• Healthy relationships;
• Communication skills;
• Decision making;
• Social studies.