Talking To Your Children About Sex and Sexuality:  Videos

• Mom's Voice
• Bird's and Bee's

The Michigan Abstinence Program (MAP)  aims to positively impact adolescent health by promoting abstinence from sexual activity and related risky behaviors, such as the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs. An abstinence-only, health behavior change approach targeting 12-18 year old youth and their parents/adults/caregivers is used. Community agencies throughout the State are funded to provide youth with intense and direct programming which promotes personal respect and responsibility, builds skills for dealing with peer pressure and are age, gender and culturally relevant. MAP activities include: youth programming, community advisory councils, community awareness activities, parent/adult/caregiver education, media campaigns and educational/promotional items. 

GOAL:
To increase the number of youth ages 12-18 (up to 21 years for special education populations) who abstain from sexual activity and other related risky behaviors.

PRIORITY NEEDS:
1)   To teach youth the decision-making skills necessary to choose abstinence, reject sexual advances, cope with social pressures, avoid risky situations and understand the relationship of alcohol and other drug use to increasing sexual vulnerability;
2)   To support communities in developing and maintaining social environments that support sex-free and drug-free lives for youth;
3)   To teach youth the relationship between sexual activity and sexually transmitted infections;
4)  To teach youth the association between teen parenting and poverty;
5)   To teach youth the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity; and
6)   To teach parents/adults/caregivers how to communicate effectively with youth about the importance and benefits of choosing abstinence from sexual activity and other related risky behaviors such as the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

FEDERAL ABSTINENCE GUIDELINES
A)   Have as its exclusive purpose teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;
B)   Teach abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school-age children;
C)   Teach that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;
D)   Teach that a mutually faithful, monogamous relationship in the context of marriage is the expected standard of sexual activity;
E)   Teach that sexual activity outside the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;
F)   Teach that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society;
G)   Teach young people how to reject sexual advances and how alcohol and drug use increases vulnerability to sexual advances; and
H)   Teach the importance of attaining self-sufficiency before engaging in sexual activity. 
 

MDCH HEALTH PROMOTIONS CLEARINGHOUSE:
Educational and Promotional Materials Available

RESOURCES

• MAP Resource List

For more information about MAP, contact: Kara Anderson