Love Notes

In 13 lessons, youth learn more about themselves: how their past has shaped the present and how to make decisions on what they want for their own future. They learn what healthy relationships are and are not while building a set of skills for choosing friends and partners, and for developing and maintaining healthy relationships, including evidence-based communication and conflict management skills. Parents and trusted adult connection activities offer conversation starters on healthy relationships and on the benefits of leaving sex out of their youthful relationships.

Throughout the lessons, youth explore the benefits of sexual delay for achieving future goals. They learn to make clear decisions about relationships and about sex, and they practice skills to assert intentions, respond to pressure situations, and change course. They also learn meaningful ways to commit or recommit to leaving sex out of youthful relationships.

Where or not they are currently sexually active, youth who participate in Love Notes SRA become empowered to identify their sexual values and intentions in a much deeper way while acquiring the critical thinking and communication skills to navigate their romantic lives. They hear from the voices of other youth and young adults concerning the many benefits of:

• sexual delay
• changing course and returning to abstinence
• completing key life events in an order conducive to (the “Success Sequence”)

Love Notes SRA’s Core Messages

• Love Notes SRA has a strong and consistent message on the benefits of sexual delay and risk avoidance, as well as the possibility and benefits of changing course and resetting one’s sexual boundaries.
• It communicates these messages through believable and culturally relevant examples (narratives, stories, media).
• It does not normalize teen sexual activity, nor does it preach or shame.
• The lessons are guided by the assumption that youth need encouragement to define a context for sex that is personally meaningful and protective of their aspirations and goals in life, and doing so will help them follow through on their intentions.

Does Love Notes SRA Include Information About Contraception?

Love Notes SRA offers clear and up-to-date information on STIs and HIV. Lesson 10 contains a brief list of family planning methods for married couples who wish to plan when to start a family. It is presented in a way that does not normalize teen sexual activity.

What Is the Research Base for Love Notes SRA?

Love Notes was included in the federal Office of Adolescent Health’s Evidence Based Program list based on the following positive outcomes:

• Teens were more likely to remain abstinent,
• Teens were more likely to stop having sex,
• Teens who chose to remain sexually active were more likely to decrease how often they had sex,
• Teens who chose to remain sexually active were more likely to use condoms and contraception, and
• Teens had a 46% reduction in the risk of experiencing a pregnancy.

Love Notes 3.0 SRA EBP is an adaptation of Love Notes 3.0 Classic, which was evaluated in an abbreviated format at the University of Louisville and found to be 46% more effective as an innovative pregnancy prevention strategy for at-risk youth. The federally funded study tested Love Notes’ innovative approach against traditional health/body-based methods. Read the Issue Brief and check out the Office of Adolescent Health’s report.

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