"Studies show that students who practice sexual risk avoidance do better academically, experience less depression and have better long-term life outcomes than those who don’t. Sexual Risk Avoidance (SRA) is a fairly new term to describe the programs offered by the OAHC Project. Other community programs may offer sexual risk reduction (SRR) which reduce the risk by offering condoms and birth control. The SRA programs offered under the OAHC Project do not assume sexual activity as a starting point, but rather delve into a whole set of social emotional issues that all youth face as they develop through their formative middle school and high school years. As such, the SRAE curricula taught under the OAHC Project offer a broader scope and cover numerous positive youth development topics including goal setting, decision-making skills, future orientation, communication skills, resistance skills, self-efficacy, self-regulation, and healthy vs. unhealthy relationships, the importance of responsible fatherhood, and overall optimal health for youth. The OAHC Project curricula also offers information about potential threats to positive youth development such as: adverse childhood experiences, medically accurate data on STI/STDs, teen pregnancy, sex and the law, abusive relationships, teen dating violence, addiction, pornography, and human trafficking.

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The OAHC Project recognizes that just as risky behaviors, such as - alcohol use, marijuana use, early sexual initiation, unprotected sex, and sex with multiple partners - are highly correlated, so too responsible decision-making and safe behaviors are also highly correlated. Therefore, the OAHC Project’s programs are holistic in nature, theoretically sound, and consistent with the public health models typically used to address youth risk behaviors. They focus on primary prevention to achieve optimal health outcomes for middle school and ninth grade students while providing age appropriate information on developing a life-style of healthy choices providing a whole-person framework for understanding WHY actively asserting healthy choices while also practicing risk avoidance is the healthiest choice not only for the present time, but also for the health of the students’ life trajectory and their future families."

SOURCE: https://www.oahcyouth.org/about

OAHC is a collaboration of community-based nonprofit organizations dedicated to providing programs and services that support optimal health for all Ohio youth.