As society continues to evolve, so too must our approach to education, particularly when it comes to comprehensive sexuality education. Children in grades K-12 are at a critical stage in their development, and providing them with accurate, age-appropriate information about sexuality is essential — and most folks in the United States agree! As #SexEdForAll month […]
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Reproductive Health, Reproductive Rights, Sex Ed
By Isabelle Christie, Special Contributor to Maine Family Planning Nearly a billion people around the world might be menstruating on any given day. (The World Bank, 2020.) Still, despite its prevalence and normalcy, menstruation remains a taboo subject few are willing to acknowledge or discuss. Consequently, menstruators receive little support from our social systems, which […]
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Health Care, Reproductive Health, Reproductive Justice, Sex Ed
By Isabelle Christie, Special Contributor to Maine Family Planning On my first day of sixth grade, my mother gave me a gift: a small, floral pouch with two pads secured in pink wrapper. “Keep this in your backpack,” she told me, “for when you get your period.” Though this is all my mother said, the […]
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Birth Control, Family Planning, Get Involved, Health Care, Reproductive Justice, Reproductive Rights, Sex Ed
We asked Laura Parent, an intern on our Prevention team, to reflect on her time with MFP. We were deeply moved by her response and we are honored to share it with you here. Thank you, Laura, and thanks to all of the sexual and reproductive health rock stars out there making the world a […]
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Maine Family Planning’s Education Department enjoyed spending the month of May sharing helpful resources for educators, parents, and youth as part of #SexEdForAll Month. See our past posts here and here, or click here for our full list of resources for teaching sex ed in the age of Covid-19. Of course, sexuality education isn’t all […]
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The Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly made delivery of comprehensive, medically-accurate sexuality education more challenging. Some classroom or community-based educators feel uncertain about how to teach the subject via distance learning, since they rely so much on body language, facial expressions, and physical cues to gauge how students are responding to the material, which is sensitive […]
Read MoreThis May, we’re joining groups all around the country to celebrate — and demand! — Sex Ed for All. Launched last year, Sex Ed for All Month is a re-imagining of Teen Pregnancy Prevention Month focused on empowering young people with the education and health care they need to build the relationships, families, and futures […]
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Are you an educator who is responsible for teaching young people about their bodies, healthy relationships, or sexual health? Are you struggling to teach health topics, puberty, or sex ed from a distance? Maine Family Planning’s Prevention team is here to help! MFP’s prevention coordinators know that Maine’s sexual health educators are committed to providing […]
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Abortion, Birth Control, HIV/AIDS, Sex Ed
Pop quiz: Carmen is 14 years old, lives in Maine, and wants to go on birth control, but doesn’t want to ask their parents. Can Carmen get a birth control method without involving their parents? Answer: Yes! Maine law empowers teens to take control of their sexual and reproductive health. Minors in Maine are allowed […]
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One of the topics MFP’s Prevention Program covers in its comprehensive sexuality education curriculum is healthy relationships. Patients also confidentially discuss their relationships with MFP clinicians during regular wellness visits. How do you know if you’re in a healthy relationship? Ask yourself some questions: Does my partner respect my choices? Does my partner support my […]
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