Dance Curriculum Toolkit

Title of Resource: iwannaknow.org

 

Target Audience: Educators, Students, Parents

 

Description of Resource:  The iwannaknow.org website is designed to promote healthy sexual health for teens and young adults.  It provides visitors with valuable information, support, and a plethora of resources to answer a wide variety of questions.  This site was created in association with the American Sexual Health Association.  According to the iwannaknow.org website, "ASHA is a trusted, non-profit organization that has advocated on behalf of patients to help improve public health outcomes since 1914. We are America's authority for sexually transmitted infection information." (About, iwannaknow.org)  The iwannaknow.org website is laid out in a manner that is easy to navigate in order to find the information you're looking for.  It offers information on a variety of topics (sexual health, STDS/STIS, Relationships, LGBTQ, Pregnancy & Parenthood, Myths & Facts, and an "Ask the Experts" section), tips, suggestions, and FAQ's about positive sexual health.      

 

Appropriateness for High School Students:  This website is first and foremost geared towards teens/young adults looking for information about sexual health.  High school students are beginning, if not already, to experience changes in their bodies physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually.  These changes can be embarrassing, confusing, and even scary at times.  Each student will develop in their own time and handle the changes in their own way.  Some students may feel comfortable to discuss questions or concerns openly with adults they trust such as parents or a teacher as school, however, other students will not be open to discussing questions or concerns they have with anyone.  This website allows students to search any sexual health information that they are looking for anonymously on their own time.  Teens/young adults while still children are becoming adults.  It is important that they have access to information about sexual health so that they can make educated decisions about what choices they are going to make for themselves. 

 

Use of Resource in Classroom/Ways to Implement this Resource in my Classroom:  I think that the best way to use this resource in the classroom is to use it as a reference for myself as well as offer it as a resource to students and parents throughout the year.  Depending on the school districts wants and needs that I am privileged to work in, may prefer that I include elements of health education into my classes which would include sexual health.  This resource would be incredible helpful with me if I am asked to include this in my curriculum as the website has 100+ SexEd Lesson Plans.

 

Strengths of Resource as a Teaching Tool (Purpose, Value, Uniqueness, Positive Aspects): What I like most about this website is that, although it is geared towards teens/young adults, there is a separate section for parents and a separate section for educators.  Along with the information that iwannaknow.org provides, there are more resources available under the "LINKS" tab at the top of the homepage.  These resources include: General Interest, Sexual Assault & Dating Violence, GLBTQ Youth, For Parents Resources, For Educators Resources, En Espanol Resources.  The section that I think that teens/young adults would find most helpful is the "Myths and Facts" page.  Regardless of age, people talk and share information that they "read in a magazine" or "overheard someone talking about" without having all of the information and then share it with friends and family.  This unreliable information, often times inaccurate information, becomes FACT without any substantial evidence.  The "Myths and Facts" page has statements related to various topics (Getting an STI, Pregnancy, Sex and Your Body, LBGTQ) that provide valid, useful information for teens/young adults.     

 

Possible Modifications to Resource (Weaknesses, Limitations, Supplemental Resources):  I do believe that this resource is an important resource for students to be familiar with beginning as freshman in high school if not before.  One limitation of this resource is that other than SexEd Lesson Plans for educators, the resource is an online resource.  There is not much that the website provides other than information for students.  There is no interactive aspect or thing that you can implement in the classroom from this site.  With that being said, I do still believe that it is a valid sight for students, educators and parents to be aware of and utilize as a valid resource whenever they need.  I do think this website would be a great supplemental resource tool for physical education teachers when teaching health as well as a valuable resource for all educators to be familiar with and aware of as the information if updated regularly and the contents are valid.

 

Resource Citation:

Iwannaknow.org. Retrieved from http://www.iwannaknow.org/teens/index.html