Draw the Line/Respect the Line (DTL) promotes abstinence by providing students in grades 6, 7 and 8 with the knowledge and skills to prevent HIV, other STD and pregnancy.
During the 6th grade lessons students use interactive activities to learn and practice four steps to drawing their line without any sexual content.
1. Say “No, I don’t (fill in the blank).
2. Use a body that says “No.”
3. Offer an alternative activity
4. Walk away if necessary.
Role plays are designed to help build refusal skills around pressures like stealing, cheating, smoking, drinking and the like while maintaining the friendship.
Seventh grade introduces students to Sexually Transmitted Infections or STI’s to include HIV. Students discuss symptoms, treatments, long-term consequences of untreated STI’s and the importance of being tested. They learn to identify early warning signs of a risky situation and practice methods to avoid or get out of a situation that may pressure them to cross their line. They practice researching answers to their STI questions through the use of the CDC 800 number, website and resource pamphlets. Learning to respect others’ personal limits is also incorporated in to the lessons.
Birth control methods and a demonstration on how to properly use a condom are included at the eighth grade level. Lessons reinforce the steps to drawing their line and respecting others who have a different comfort level. Students are introduced through video to youth living with HIV/AIDS that is the basis for discussions around understanding the facts around HIV transmission and preventing the spread of AIDS. The lessons culminate with the trained facilitator using a demonstrator to allow students to see the proper steps to condom use.
In both the 7th and 8th grade lessons, students are encouraged to ask their questions via an anonymous question box. Facilitators take time to research answers in order to provide medically accurate and age appropriate answers. They also take time to craft their responses in a way that keeps their answers value neutral and reduces shame and the triggering of past trauma for some students.