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Reducing the Risk is a high-school-level sexuality education curriculum
designed to reduce the frequency of unprotected sexual intercourse through:
(1) delaying or reducing the frequency of intercourse; or (2) increasing
contraceptive and STD-protection awareness. The 16-session curriculum is
intended to serve as one component of a family life education course, rather
than as a comprehensive, stand-alone program. Based on social learning theory,
the curriculum aims to change student norms about unprotected sex and
perceptions of peer sexual activity, as well as to strengthen parent- child
communication concerning abstinence and contraception. The curriculum
explicitly emphasizes that students should avoid unprotected intercourse,
either by not having sex or (for students who choose to have sex) by using
contraceptives. Lessons are reinforced through role-plays, homework
activities, quizzes, and skill-building activities. A field study of the
program was conducted in 13 California high schools. Participation in the
program significantly increased teens' knowledge and communication wit h
parents regarding abstinence and contraception. In addition, the program
significantly reduced the likelihood that students who had not had intercourse
at the start of the program would become sexually active by the 18-month
follow-up assessment. However, program participation did not affect the
frequency of sexual intercourse or the use of contraceptives among teens who
were already sexually active at the start of the program.
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