Responding to challenging questions

SIECUS: Sex Ed for Social Change has provided trainings to thousands of individuals and nonprofit organizations across the country.  SIECUS’ policy team is uniquely positioned to offer trainings for all types of policy activity and engagement at all levels of government–federal, state, and local. Our trainings our developed to enhance participant understanding of influencing public policy, learn what it takes to engage in effective advocacy, and strategically mobilize to advance sex education laws and policy.

In this training, participants will:

Cultural perspectives, organizational policies, and local and national laws are changing to embrace the principle of Affirmative Consent. A culture of consent is one in which it is the norm, not the exception, for all persons to obtain consent prior to sexual experiences. Many educators feel this policy shift is a step in the right direction and has the potential to create positive change.

Affirmative Consent policies can:

Educators and others who work with youth often feel anxious about addressing sensitive issues—such as topics associated with strong personal values—in the classroom, whether they are part of a curriculum or surface in a general class discussion. Sexuality, alcohol and other drugs, politics, race, and bullying are just a few examples of issues that, if not handled sensitively, could result in alienated students or angry parents contacting the school or agency.

In this training, participants will become familiar with the Foundations model to implement high-quality sex education. Foundations aims to ensure that sex educators have the skills to effectively facilitate student learning, create safe and inclusive environments, and provide opportunities for skill-building and values exploration.

This training has an option of additional 1-2 days addressing cultural proficiency, LBGTQ inclusion, common learning strategies, and/or trauma-informed care.

In this training, participants will gain a general understanding of reproductive health as it relates to teen pregnancy prevention. Topics include reproductive anatomy and physiology, adolescent growth and development, HIV/STIs, and contraceptives.

This training is designed for: 

• Educators new to teaching sex education
• Anyone who wants a refresher on the basics
• Health care professionals

In this training, participants will improve their skills in talking with adolescents about delicate topics and answering sensitive questions. By becoming an Askable Adult, participants will gain essential tools to support teens in making healthy decisions about relationships, love, and sex.

Cardea offers training on a range of content and skills to support effective sexual health education implementation. Training options include existing training modules or customized training to support the needs of your faculty or staff.

Topics can include:

Cardea, in collaboration with Answer, has developed Foundations: Core Skills Training for Sex Ed. This national training model includes a one-day core skills curriculum, with four supplemental, half-day modules on essential concepts to support sexual health education implementation.

The one-day training address a range of core facilitation skills including:

As our society embraces all technology has to offer, we find ourselves in a position to guide young people through a landscape we’re navigating with them. From online safety and social media to texting and sexting, this training will unpack best practices, shift fear-based messaging, and guide educators in a growing field.