Decision-Making Regarding Sexual Relationships
Senior 1 · Biology
Decision-Making Regarding Sexual Relationships
Lesson 4 of 5
25 min
In a radio drama that Mutesi's class listens to, a 16-year-old girl becomes pregnant and leaves school, and her boyfriend later learns that he has an STI. The class discusses what could have prevented both problems.
Sexual activity can lead to two different outcomes that young people are not ready for: an unplanned pregnancy and an infection. Some ways of protecting against one do nothing against the other. This lesson explains dual protection, why abstinence is the safest choice at your age, and the skills that make that choice possible.
Definition
Unplanned pregnancy (unintended pregnancy): a pregnancy that was not wanted at that time, or not wanted at all.
Dual protection: protection against both unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, at the same time.
Abstinence: choosing not to have sex. It is the only method that gives complete protection against both pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections.
Definition
Contraception: methods used by adults to prevent pregnancy, such as contraceptive pills, injections and implants. Most of them give no protection against STIs.
Condom: a thin covering that stops semen and other body fluids passing between partners. Used correctly every time, condoms greatly reduce the risk of both pregnancy and STIs, including HIV, though no method except abstinence is 100 percent effective.
Mutual faithfulness: two partners who have both been tested having sex only with each other.
Figure 1: Dual protection. Only the methods in the overlap protect against both unplanned pregnancy and STIs.
| Method | Protects against pregnancy? | Protects against STIs and HIV? |
|---|---|---|
| Abstinence | yes, completely | yes, completely (from sexual transmission) |
| Condoms, used correctly every time | yes, greatly reduces the risk | yes, greatly reduces the risk; less protection against infections that cause sores outside the area a condom covers |
| Pills, injections, implants | yes | no |
| HPV and hepatitis B vaccines | no | only against those two infections |
| PrEP (for adults at high risk) | no | only against HIV |
| Mutual faithfulness after both partners test negative | no, on its own | yes, if both stay faithful and were truly negative |
For adults, dual protection means either using a condom every time, often together with another contraceptive method, or both partners being tested and faithful and also using contraception if they do not want a pregnancy. Health centres and district youth centres give adults and young people confidential advice.
Rwanda's curriculum presents abstinence as the best choice for young people of your age, and the reasons come from biology, the law and your own goals:
Abstinence is a decision that anyone can make, and it is a sign of self-respect and maturity, not of being "childish". It is also a decision a person can make at any time, whatever has happened before.
Worked example 1: choosing dual protection
Use Figure 1 to decide whether each method gives dual protection.
Conclusion: only abstinence and condoms are in the overlap; for young people, abstinence is the only choice that gives complete protection.
Choosing abstinence is easier when you have decided in advance and practised what to say. Use the same assertive steps as in Unit 12: No, Reason, Other, Go.
| Pressure line | Assertive reply |
|---|---|
| "If you loved me, you would." | "If you loved me, you would respect my decision. No." |
| "Everyone our age is doing it." | "Not everyone, and I'm not. Let's go and join the others." |
| "Nobody will know." | "I will know. My answer is no." |
| "I gave you a present." | "Then take it back. I'm not for sale." |
| "You're so old-fashioned." | "I'm choosing my future. No thanks." |
Definition
Refusal skills: ways of saying no clearly and keeping to it, such as a firm "no", giving a reason, suggesting something else, and walking away.
Worked example 2: a refusal, step by step
After school, a boyfriend tells Keza (14): "Come to my brother's house. Nobody's home. Don't be childish." Plan her response using No, Reason, Other, Go.
Analysis: the words "nobody's home" and "don't be childish" are pressure tactics. A partner who respects Keza will accept her answer; one who does not is showing her something important about the relationship.
In pairs, practise the pressure lines in the table, taking turns to reply assertively. Then write two new pressure lines and replies of your own. Keep the role-plays about invented characters; nobody needs to talk about their own life.
Important
Your body, your decision. Nobody has the right to pressure, trick, pay or force you into any sexual activity. Abstinence is the safest choice at your age, and saying no is always your right.
Warning
Common mistakes. (1) Thinking a contraceptive pill or implant protects against HIV: it does not. (2) Thinking that a vaccine prevents pregnancy: it does not. (3) Thinking a condom is 100 percent safe: it greatly reduces risk only when used correctly every time; only abstinence is complete. (4) Believing that saying no once is enough; you may need to repeat it and leave.
Tip
Memory hook: "Both circles, or it's not dual." A method gives dual protection only if it sits in the overlap of Figure 1.
Practice: dual protection and abstinence
Key points
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the lesson text, Figure 1, the tables, the worked examples, the role-play and the practice questions.
