LEARNING OBJECTIVE

 Analyze the role of communication in healthy relationships and identify strategies for being assertive and respectful.

HEALTH ED STANDARD

NHES 5: Demonstrate the ability to use interpersonal communication skills to enhance health and avoid or reduce health risks.

CASEL Competency: Self-management

KEY VOCAB

consent, alter

Lesson Plan: The Dating Survival Guide

Are we even a thing? Why is this so awkward? What should I say? In this article, we answer the burning questions teens might be too afraid to ask.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION

What is the best way to handle an awkward romantic situation?

 CLOSE-READING QUESTIONS

  1. Why is it important to talk to your parents before you start dating? It’s best to be honest and show them that you’re taking your social life seriously. 
  2. What is consent? List the five key points the article lists to make the concept clear. Consent is a clear agreement that both parties want something to happen. It needs to be freely given, reversible, informed, enthusiastic, and specific. 
  3. What is the best way turn somebody down without hurting their feelings? You can say no in whatever way feels the most comfortable to you. Just make sure you spare the person’s pride by not gossiping about them afterward.

Like What You See?

Then you'll love Choices, our health, social-emotional learning, and life-skills magazine for grades 7–12 

 CRITICAL-THINKING QUESTIONS

  1.  Which of the scenarios in the article do you find the most relatable and why? (This can be because of personal experience or the experience of one of your friends. Just don’t use names!) Answers will vary. 
  2. What do your parents think about you dating? Have you had a discussion with them about your family values and expectations? Answers will vary. 
  3. We have been hearing about consent a lot in the news lately. What was your initial understanding of consent, and how has it shifted or grown since reading the article? Possible answer: I knew consent meant saying yes to doing something with someone, but now I know that if it’s not freely given, specific, and clear, it’s not really consent. 

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

ADVOCACY IN ACTION

NHES 4, NHES 8, CASEL Competency: Relationship skills

Students are hearing a lot about consent, but do they really know what it means? The resources for teaching it are still somewhat limited. In small groups, students will use the THIS IS CONSENT production guide to create PSA videos to help explain the concept to their peers. Watch them together as a class when they’re finished!

MAKING CONNECTIONS

NHES 7, CASEL Competency: Self-management

Breaking up is hard to do, and it’s important for teens to understand that their painful feelings are real and they have a right to experience them. They also need to identify healthy coping skills for a post-breakup plan that will help them go from feeling down in the the dumps to experiencing their Hollywood-worthy MONTAGE MOMENT. 

Print This Lesson Plan

Text-to-Speech