• History and Goals
• Facilitator and Parent Roles
• Class Details
• Program Details
• Contact Information
  

Power On was developed in 2003 when educators, school nurses, and parents requested family programming that addressed sexuality for older children 12 to 15 years old. The two night program deals with abstinence, sexually transmitted diseases, teen pregnancy, communication and goal setting.

The goals of this program are:

1. To inform young people of adolescent age of normal biological and psychological changes they will experience as they continue to grow toward adulthood.
2. To encourage family dialogue especially in the areas of relationships and sexuality.
3. To explore facts and feeling related to sexuality in order to provide children with the knowledge and skills needed to make healthy decisions in the future.

The Johnson County Health Department offers the Let's Get Growing! and Power On classes to schools and various community organizations. We utilize a “family centered” approach. The instructors present factual information and facilitate discussion, and the parents and teens share their views with one another.

The primary objective of the facilitators is to convey factual information while encouraging communication within the family. Our facilitators are health educators, nurses, and counselors. They are comfortable discussing the subject matter and are experienced at creating a relaxed, fun atmosphere for the families.

Parents need to be the primary sex educators of their children. The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy reports that 87% of teens say it would be easier for them to postpone sexual activity and avoid teen pregnancy if they were able to have more open, honest conversations with their parents. However, 90% of parents who believe they should talk to their kids about sex say they don’t know what to say, how to say it, or when to start. Hopefully, participation in these two programs will help families begin a healthy conversation about sexuality that can continue throughout adolescence.

For the Power On classes only, the parents and teens will separate for about half of each session to discuss information pertinent to each group and then join together for activities and games.

Power On classes are presented at middle schools, junior high schools, and community groups to teens 12 to 15 years old. Four trained facilitators lead families through various lectures, games, activities and videos. Together, the parents and teens explore facts, feelings, and values related to sexuality. They see some of the possible risky consequences related to teen sexual activity and can process the advantages to remaining abstinent. In addition to learning facts about STDs and teen pregnancy, they also learn skills for making positive decisions, combating peer pressure, and setting goals for the future.

The typical Power On class meets for two and a half hours on two evenings. During each session, the parents and teens will separate for about half of the class to discuss information pertinent to each group and then join together for activities and games. The program has the following structure:

• Class 1: The first class begins with the participants filling out a worksheet about how well they know their parents or their children respectively. They introduce themselves by saying one thing they learned about the person they came with. The parents then leave the room to discuss the facts regarding teen sexual activity and to begin discussing what parents can do to help their children be abstinent. In the meantime, the students do various activities to understand why teen sex is confusing, to review the male and female anatomy, to talk about human sexuality, and to clarify that oral, anal, and vaginal sex is all sex. After the parents return, the rest of the session is spent understanding sexually transmitted diseases through a lecture, video, and two activities.
  
• Class 2: The second class starts by the facilitators answering the questions from the question box that were written by both the teens and their parents. The parents then go to a separate session where they will discuss positive communication, how to promote abstinence, media influences, and Internet safety. The parents watch a video on what teens wish their parents would tell them about sex, and then they are given the opportunity to discuss issues amongst themselves. The teens split into groups to explore the consequences of teen pregnancy and parenthood and to practice refusal skills. When the families come together, they do an activity regarding decision-making. Then the parent/child pairs privately discuss their opinions about teen sexual activity and abstinence. Finally, the teens share some of their short term and long-term goals with the class. They discuss how their actions today will impact those goals (i.e. sexual intercourse before marriage may result in an out-of-wedlock pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease that could alter their goals and future aspirations.) Post-tests and evaluation are given.

Please make every effort to be on time. We will start promptly and be sure to finish by 9pm.

Classes are sponsored by schools, churches, or community organizations. Sponsors help in promoting the class to participants and arranging the meeting space and audio-visual equipment. Please contact Holly Whitlock at the Johnson County Health Department (913-477-8392) if you are interested in sponsoring a program.

Holly Whitlock
Health Educator
Johnson County Health Department
11875 S. Sunset, Suite 300
Olathe, KS 66061
(913) 477-8392
Fax (913) 477-8053
holly.whitlock@jocogov.org