Dating Matters (6th Grade):
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
SESSION 1: Healthy Relationships
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Provide students with an understanding of the purpose and goals of the Dating
Matters for Students 6th grade program.
•
Establish a comfortable, non-threatening learning and sharing
environment that will encourage continued participation.
•
Provide students with school and community resources (trusted adults) that
students can access if they have questions or concerns about any type of
relationship.
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Explore qualities of a healthy friendship.
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Connect qualities of a healthy friendship to that of a healthy dating relationship.
SESSION 2: Understanding Feelings
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Promote students’ emotional literacy, including the ability to identify,
understand, and respond to emotions/feelings in a healthy and safe way.
o
Build students’ feelings vocabulary. The development of a large feelings
vocabulary makes it possible for students to better understand and
communicate their emotional experiences.
o
Explain and reinforce the concept that there are no “bad” feelings – it is
normal and expected to experience a wide range of feelings
o
Discuss the physical (physiological and body language) clues
associated with angry and calm feelings.
o
Practice using body language clues to identify others’ feelings.
o
Discuss situations that lead to feeling multiple ways at once.
SESSION 3: Staying in Control of Feelings
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Continue to promote students’ emotional literacy, including the ability to identify,
understand, and respond to emotions/feelings in a healthy and safe way.
o
Establish the link between physical clues, strong feelings, and unclear
thinking.
o
Discuss potential consequences of letting feelings take control.
o
Emphasize that it is never okay to use violence, regardless of how
strong feelings may be.
o
Discuss and practice the four steps to staying in control of feelings.
o
Discuss and practice four ways to calm down.
Dating Matters (6th Grade):
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
SESSION 4: Healthy Communication
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Increase awareness about nonverbal and verbal communication and teach basic
skills for improving conversation.
•
Allow students time to practice the use of healthy nonverbal and verbal
communication skills.
SESSION 5: Unhealthy and Unsafe Relationships
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Increase students’ awareness of unhealthy relationship behaviors.
•
Educate students about teen dating violence, including providing definitions and
facts about physical, sexual, and emotional violence, as well as stalking.
•
Discuss when unhealthy behaviors (“yellow light behaviors”) cross the line
and become unsafe (“red light behaviors”).
•
Emphasize that unsafe (“red light”) behaviors include behaviors that fall within
the category of teen dating violence and require seeking help from a trusted
adult.
SESSION 6: Staying Safe in Relationships
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Discuss RESPECT ME Rights, which highlight major program themes and
messages as they pertain to dating relationships.
•
Provide students with school, community and national resources (trusted adults)
that students can access if they have questions or concerns about any type of
relationship.
•
Discuss why it can be hard for teenagers to get help if they are in an unhealthy or
unsafe relationship, and provide students with tips on how to help a friend in
need and how to leave an unsafe relationship.
•
Allow students to interpret RESPECT ME Rights via presentation or performance.
Dating Matters (7th Grade):
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
SESSION 1: Healthy Relationships
•
•
•
•
•
Provide students with an understanding of the purpose and goals of the Dating
Matters for Students 7th grade program.
Establish a comfortable, non-threatening learning and sharing environment that
will encourage continued participation.
Provide students with school and community resources (trusted adults) that they
can access if they have questions or concerns about any type of relationship.
Explore qualities of a healthy friendship.
Connect qualities of a healthy friendship to that of a healthy dating relationship.
SESSION 2: Understanding Feelings
•
Build students’ emotional literacy, or the ability to identify, understand, and
respond to emotions/feelings in a healthy and safe way.
o Build students’ feelings vocabulary. The development of a large feelings
vocabulary makes it possible for students to better understand and
communicate their emotional experiences.
o Explain and reinforce the concept that there are no “bad” feelings – it is
normal and expected to experience a wide range of feelings.
o Discuss situations that lead to feeling multiple ways at once.
o Discuss the physical (physiological and body language) clues associated
with angry and calm feelings.
o Discuss potential consequences of letting feelings taking control.
o Discuss the four steps to staying in control of feelings.
SESSION 3: Staying in Control of Feelings & Making Healthy
Decisions
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•
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Continue to build students’ emotional literacy, or the ability to identify, understand,
and respond to emotions in oneself and others in a healthy and safe way.
o Discuss and practice 4 ways to calm down.
Discuss how drinking alcohol during the teen years can lead to learning problems
or alcohol dependence.
Demonstrate that the norm for student behavior is often far different from student
perception.
o Provide students with the fact that most middle school students are not
drinking alcohol, using other drugs, or having sex.
Dating Matters (7th Grade):
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
SESSION 4: Healthy Communication
•
•
Increase awareness about nonverbal and verbal communication and teach basic
skills for improving conversation.
Allow students time to practice the use of healthy nonverbal and verbal
communication skills.
SESSION 5: Unhealthy and Unsafe Relationships
•
•
•
•
Increase students’ awareness of unhealthy relationship behaviors.
Educate students about teen dating violence, including providing definitions and
facts about physical, sexual, and emotional violence, as well as stalking.
Discuss when unhealthy behaviors (“yellow light behaviors”) cross the line and
become unsafe (“red light behaviors”).
Emphasize that unsafe (“red light”) behaviors include behaviors that fall within the
category of teen dating violence and require seeking help from a trusted adult.
SESSION 6: Sexual Violence & Dating Safety
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•
•
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Provide a definition for and discuss sexual coercion, or the use of pressure or
alcohol/drugs to get someone to do something sexual that he or she does not
want to do.
Reinforce the fact that sexual coercion is a form of sexual violence.
Emphasize that sexual consent must be clear, continuous, free from coercion,
and all people must be conscious.
Discuss dating safety, or things that students can do to help keep them safer
when dating.
Prompt students to identify potentially unsafe dating situations and apply dating
safety tips.
SESSION 7: Relationship Rights & Getting Help
•
•
•
•
Discuss RESPECT ME Rights, which highlight major program themes and
messages as they pertain to dating relationships.
Provide students with school, community and national resources (trusted adults)
that students can access if they have questions or concerns about any type of
relationship.
Discuss why it can be hard for teenagers to get help if they are in an unhealthy or
unsafe relationship, and provide students with tips on how to help a friend in need
and how to leave an unsafe relationship.
Allow students to interpret RESPECT ME Rights via presentation or performance.
Safe Dates (8th Grade):
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
SESSION 1: Defining Caring Relationships
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Identify the qualities that are most important to them in a dating relationship.
Identify actions that are caring and supportive.
Describe how they want to be treated by a dating partner.
Describe how they want to treat a dating partner.
Understand that they can and should choose how they’ll be treated in a dating
relationship.
Understand that they can an should choose how they’ll treat a dating partner.
SESSION 2: Defining Dating Abuse
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Identify harmful dating behaviors.
Define physically and emotionally abusive behaviors.
Identify physical and emotional abuse in dating relationships.
Be more likely to identify abusive behaviors as abusive.
Be more aware of their susceptibility to dating abuse
Be more likely to reject abuse as normal in dating relationships.
SESSION 3: Why Do People Abuse?
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Describe the controlling and manipulative functions of dating abuse.
Identify abusive behaviors as abusive.
Choose not to believe common misperceptions of why dating abuse happens.
Understand that dating abuse is a serious matter.
Understand that abuse is not the victim's fault.
Describe the serious short- and long-term consequences of abusive relationships.
Identify the warning signs that a person is a victim of abuse or is an abusive
partner.
SESSION 4: How To Help Friends
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•
•
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Recognize the complexity of the decision to leave an abusive relationship and the
many different opinions about when one should leave.
Recognize the difficulty and fear that a friend in an abusive relationship may have
in reaching out for help.
Describe a variety of ways to support a friend who is a victim of dating abuse.
Describe the community resources available for teens in abusive dating
relationships.
Seek help if they're victims of abuse or are abusive partners in a dating
relationship.
SESSION 5: Helping Friends
Safe Dates (8th Grade):
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
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•
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Identify red flags that indicate their friend might be an abusive partner or a victim of
dating abuse.
Feel more comfortable confronting a friend who is abusive in a dating relationship.
Understand how to support a friend in an abusive relationship.
SESSION 6: Overcoming Gender Stereotypes
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Understand that they and other people hold specific images of dating relationships.
Describe how the images people hold influence their interactions in a dating
relationship.
Identify the harmful consequences of gender stereotyping.
Explain the role that gender stereotyping plays in dating relationships.
SESSION 7: How Do We Feel, How Do We Deal
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Express their feelings or emotions in various ways.
Understand the importance of acknowledging and communicating their feelings.
Identify situations that trigger their anger.
Identify physiological and psychological cues that they're angry.
Identify a variety of nonviolent ways to respond to anger.
Understand that they have a choice in how to respond to anger.
Increasingly use nonviolent responses to anger.
SESSION 8: Equal Power Through Communication
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Describe the four SAFE communication skills for resolving conflict
Demonstrate the use of the four SAFE communication skills
Describe some nonviolent responses when a dating partner doesn't
communicate in a way that is fair and equal
SESSION 9: Preventing Dating Abuse
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Understand that victims of dating sexual abuse are never to blame.
Understand that rape is always unacceptable.
Understand and interpret "no" cues correctly.
Know how to protect themselves in a potential rape situation.
State their sexual boundaries clearly to their dating partner.
Describe dating tips to decrease their chances of being a victim of sexual assault
or an abusive partner.
Identify date rape drugs.
SESSION 10: Reviewing the Safe Dates Program
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Retain what they learned while participating in Safe Dates.