Connections Matter is a training designed to engage community members in building caring connections to:
- Improve resiliency,
- Prevent childhood trauma, and
- Understand how our interactions with others can support those who have experienced trauma.
The Sex Education Collaborative Training Hub lists trainings for sex educators, facilitators, and other professionals on best practices for sharing important information with clients and the public. From teaching anatomy inclusively to effectively addressing bias in the classroom to addressing racial justice and equity in sex education, the Training Hub includes trainings, technical assistance, and policy support from state, regional, and national leaders in the field of sex education.
Please note: The Training Hub includes both in-person and online professional trainings. If you see a training you are interested in and it isn’t listed as virtual, please reach out directly to any of our members to find out what's possible!
Connections Matter is a training designed to engage community members in building caring connections to:
Sexually Explicit Media (SEM) is one way through which youth are learning about sexuality. Using the lens of media literacy education, this interactive, one-day training will provide educators, youth workers, and professionals with an opportunity to explore how pornography can play a role in young people's sexual development and sexuality, their awareness of gender and gender stereotypes, consent, sexual behavior, bodies and body image, healthy and unhealthy relationships, and sexual identity. Participants will learn strategies to teach critical thinking skills about media literacy, how to discuss SEM with young people, and leave with activities to utilize in the classroom. Registration link here.
Far too often, masculine expectations lead those who identify as male to engage in harmful behaviors, including high risk sexual behaviors. Educators, youth workers, and other caring adults frequently see the negative impact of these expectations and struggle to reach male identified folks who are unwilling to seek out and utilize health care services and other support networks. In this workshop, participants will explore and attempt to understand harmful masculine expectations and will leave with strategies for challenging and countering these expectations with the goal of promoting more positive, uplifting expressions of masculinity. Registration link here.
The media plays a huge role in how we think about sex and sexuality. Using TV clips, movie scenes, ads and songs, we will explore how the media portrays sexual violence. We will also discuss how we can use the media to have constructive conversations regarding sexual violence in our daily lives.
Since the start of the "Me Too" movement, more teachers are looking for ways to incorporate consent into sex education. This training will help participants recognize language changes and immediate shifts they can make in existing content and identify various tools, resources, materials, and activities that could be used in classroom related to consent. The training will also review best practices and key messages for teaching consent; particularly being intentional about students at different developmental levels.
In this training, participants will:
My Life My Choice (MLMC) and Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts (PPLM) have merged their respective expertise in commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) and sexuality education to create an evidence, trauma, and survivor-informed training designed to help a wide range of youth service providers use intentional and inclusive language to begin conversations with young people about sex and sexuality that reflects the realities of their lives. Application link here.