Family Activities
Research shows that children want to talk to their parents and other caring adults about sex and sexuality. Although these conversations might be uncomfortable for some, Get Real Family Activities give parents and other caring adults the strategies, tips, and tools they need to help facilitate a dialogue with their children.
After each lesson in the middle school curriculum, students complete a Family Activity with a parent or other trusted adult. The activity builds off the information provided during class and encourages open conversation between parents and children about their family values. The Get Real program includes access to the Get Real for Parents mobile website, an online tool parents can use to complete the Family Activities in the middle school curriculum using a computer, phone, or tablet.
Get Your Educator Code to Share with Parents
To obtain your unique educator code, reach out to the Get Real Training Institute team. In your message, include your school name and be prepared to show proof of purchase of the curriculum. In order to use Get Real for Parents, educators must have purchased the Get Real Middle School curriculum from ETR and be implementing the curriculum in the grades it is written for.
Sending Home the Family Activities
In order to establish parents as the primary sexuality educators of their children, it’s important to encourage completion of the activities through the Get Real for Parents website and/or send home the Family Activities to be completed with the corresponding lessons. Methods of delivery for Family Activities can vary depending on the systems in place at each school. Examples of delivery methods include home mailings at the start of the school year, sending the Get Real for Parents website access code and/or handouts of the Family Activities home with students each week, posting the handouts on a school website, or emailing the website access code and/or handouts directly to parents.
It’s important to acknowledge that it may be uncomfortable for students and parents to talk about sex and sexuality. Teachers can model how to approach a parent or other caring adult about completing the Family Activities, and it may be helpful to remind students that their parents have been informed about the activities. Students will identify caring adults in their lives in the first lesson of each grade. These may include parents, mentors, other family members, religious leaders, coaches and teachers. Students who are concerned about asking a parent to participate may be able to complete the Family Activities with another caring adult.
Encourage Participation
Parents should be encouraged to participate in the Get Real Family Activities (via the Get Real for Parents website or handouts) at the parent orientation sessions, and they can be reminded of the importance of these activities through any outgoing mailings, emails or newsletters from the school. The Parent Letters that accompany each Family Activity handout explain the topic of the lesson, provide more information, and offer tips on how to talk to their children about the topic. Note that some states may have laws regarding classroom discussions of parents’ beliefs about sex. Teachers should research these and adapt how the Family Activities are processed in order to be in compliance with state laws.
Although implementation of the Family Activities is essential and completion is to be expected, it should not be a required component of the class or student grades. Due to the sensitive nature of the material, as well as a student’s comfort and safety in approaching a parent or caring adult about this material, students should not be penalized for not completing the Family Activities. Teachers can encourage participation by offering incentives to the class that turns in the most homework. If the Get Real class meets only once a week, a Family Activity box or folder placed in the classroom can help keep students from losing or forgetting the assignments. To limit loss of handouts, encourage students to give the Get Real for Parents website access code to their parent or caring adult, so completion of the Family Activities can be done online from the convenience of a phone, tablet or other mobile device.
