USBE approved, this is a year subscription for a teacher and his or her students to access the HEART (Health Education and Relationship Training) curriculum via our student-privacy certified online learning platform.  Certification is through iKeepSafe.org
 
Free access to preview curriculum can be obtained by emailing brooke@storylabs.app
 
Seven Ways that HEART Gets Sex Ed Right
 
1. HEART emphasizes primary protection (risk avoidance—delaying sex until at least the legal age of consent)
 
2. HEART teaches the truth about the laws protecting minors—minors can’t ‘consent’ to sex. Other curricula teach or infer that minors can ‘consent’ to sex but the law clearly doesn’t allow this—sex with an unmarried minor is always a crime.
 
3. HEART reveals the fundamental lesson of STIs—the human immune system cannot protect against casual sex. The number of STIs continues to grow, especially those without a cure. HEART teaches the only real safety is faithfulness to a single partner, or living as close to this as possible.
 
4. HEART teaches the link between certain STIs and certain cancers. HPV, for example, is a risk for cancers.
 
5. HEART presents information about ways STIs are harder on girls with the CDC’s “10 Ways STDs Impact Women Differently from Men.” The list includes “pelvic inflammatory disease,” a common STI complication and a cause of infertility and ectopic pregnancy.
 
6. In an optional lesson, HEART acknowledges gender dysphoria but shares information that 98% of cases resolve by adulthood and that patience under the guidance of parents is the safest path.
 
7. HEART supports marriage by presenting the advantages of marriage over the growing trend of cohabitation. Studies show marriage, for example, is the best protection against poverty, even better than a college education. Marriage, once practiced by all income classes, is becoming a lost dream for many poor women. There is a media message of growing sexual promiscuity—that everyone’s doing ‘it.’ The fact is that since the early ‘90s kids are starting sex later, doing it less, with fewer partners, and teen pregnancies have steadily fallen. This is a trend that needs support and encouragement and HEART promotes and teaches the message of ‘kids getting better.
 
Triangle Model:    Parents - Students - Teachers
 
Transparency for Parents:
● All materials can be reviewed by students’ parents without setting up time at the district office for review.
● Content is presented with images and clear subsections
● Can review content before the required “Parent Interview” homework
 
Engagement for Students:
● Clear, concise subsections with an introductory image
● Links to media, information, and online review games
● Online notebook for recording parent interviews
 
Accessibility for Teachers:
● Teacher’s Guide offers in-depth research, details and references
● “Question-box - Responses” presents student questions in real time from all students using the HEART curriculum
● Links to resources, media and online activities
● ELL translation
 
 
Frequently Asked Questions
 
• Is HEART medically accurate?
Yes. HEART was written under the guidance of an expert advisory board that included MDs and PhDs for the required topics.
 
• Is it age appropriate?
Students can have a wide variation in sexual awareness but HEART was written with the goals of respecting innocence and not prematurely sexualizing students.
 
• When is HEART taught?
HEART is taught in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades, thus providing three annual reminders of how to protect sexual health during the years of greatest sexual development.
 
• How long does HEART take to teach?
The class requires a minimum of 8, 6 and 10 class sessions in the 7th, 8th, and 9th grades respectively.
 
• Does HEART support parent rights?
Yes. HEART uses the Parent Interview for each lesson to engage students and parents in a discussion of sexual topics.
 
• Does HEART align with individual family values?
Yes. The Parent Interview empowers parents to teach family values as school teachers provide required information. This has the added advantage of keeping teachers out of the values crossfire.
 
• Is HEART available for students who opt-out of a school’s sex ed curriculum, or to schools that deliver sex ed through independent study?
Yes. HEART has been adapted for independent study on the Storylabs digital learning platform which allows for privacy and accountability.