HATC Education Forum Healthy Connections: A Sexual Health Education Curriculum

Monica Schell, MSW (she/they) joins us from The Harborview Abuse & Trauma Center (HATC) to present Healthy Connections: A Sexual Health Education Curriculum. HATC developed a comprehensive sexual health education curriculum for high school students in Washington State. The lessons are meant to act as a “second dose” of sex ed and should build upon topics students received in their first unit of sex ed (such as affirmative consent and bystander intervention). The lesson topics are: Setting & Respecting Boundaries, Healthy Relationships, Digital Consent, and Supporting a Friend: Options After an Assault. This training will provide an overview of the Healthy Connections curriculum and best practices for implementation. This training will also show the impact the lesson topics had on students, as well as the effectiveness of comprehensive, shame-free sexual health education as a sexual assault prevention tool.