Love Notes

Program Objectives

The main goal of Love Notes is to prevent unplanned pregnancy by providing teens with information to make wise relationship choices. The program also provides information on preventing relationship violence, and helps teens create a clear plan to avoid pregnancy and STDs.

Love Notes aims to achieve these goals by integrating relationship skills with pregnancy prevention and workforce readiness, with practical strategies for motivating change. The model relies on:

• A realistic context for learning that incorporates language, values and scenarios that is relevant to this audience.
• An appeal to aspirations that helps youth to cultivate a personal vision for love, intimacy, and success.
• New motivations for behavioral change, such as exploring, from a child’s perspective, the impact of unplanned pregnancy and unstable relationships.
• Empowerment to achieve healthy relationships at home and at work through both knowledge and practical skills.

Program Content

Love Notes is a 13-session program consisting of the following modules:

1. Relationships Today
2. Knowing Yourself
3. My Expectations-My Future
4. Attractions and Starting Relationships
5. Principles of Smart Relationships
6. Is it a Healthy Relationship
7. Dangerous Love
8. Decide, Don't Slide!
9. The Low Risk Approach to Relationships
10. Let's Talk About Sex
11. Let's Plan for Choices
12. What's Communication Got to Do With It?Communication Challenges and More Skills
13. Through the Eyes of a Child.

Love Notes teaches evidence-based strategies for communication and conflict resolution in all relationships, with an emphasis on romantic relationships. The program builds empathy for children by encouraging youth to reflect on how decisions they make around their romantic relationships would affect a child born to them.

Planning physical intimacy and building self-efficacy around romantic relationships (called “Decide, Don’t Slide!” in the curriculum) forms a core strategy for the intervention and is grounded in the theory of planned behavior. The program is designed to empower teen participants to slow down and think through possible courses of action and their consequences. Youth learn about their chemical and hormonal reactions to anger, stress, and sexual attraction. The program uses the idea of “intentionality via planning,” which calls for teens to consciously weigh their potential actions against their long-term goals.

Program Methods

Love Notes is delivered through facilitation, PowerPoints, group discussions, exercises, workbooks, videos, music videos, brainstorming, worksheets, role-play activities, drawing, and sculpting.