ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, March 25, 1997 TAG: 9703250064
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: HEALTH NOTES
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY
After you watch the "Talking About Sex" video, you'll be singing the theme song, "Body Changes." It's a hummable tune.
The video and its accompanying parents' guide and children's activity book also are a good package of basic information about physical and emotional changes young people encounter on the way to becoming adults.
The books and 30-minute film, which come boxed as a kit, are designed for ages 10-14. The kit was produced by Planned Parenthood Federation of America Inc., and Planned Parenthood of the Blue Ridge recently gave copies of it to 10 area libraries.
The information is presented in an understandable and entertaining, but clinical, way so that it should not be offensive to anyone.
"What's a period?" asks one character.
"A little dot at the end of a sentence," answers another.
But then the question's repeated, and viewers learn about menstruation and its effects on young women.
The format is upbeat, but the presentation of material is dignified.
Scriptwriters have been careful to be supportive of parents who want to stress certain moral positions.
Abstinence is listed as the best way to avoid pregnancy even though birth control is discussed. Abortion is mentioned as just one choice for a teen girl who becomes pregnant. It's listed after placing the baby for adoption.
Gender issues are included, too.
In the video, cartoon characters go through father-and-son, mother-and-daughter scenarios, first demonstrating the wrong ways parents and children communicate, and then replaying the conversations the right way. Some segments have young people talking with each other. One of those conversations leads into a definition of homosexuality.
Parents and children should be comfortable watching the video together, although parents will want to view it alone first to prepare for questions. The 60-page parents' guide walks the reader through a review of sexuality and its issues and discusses the difficulties adults have in talking about reproduction, puberty, and even values.
The young people's activity book follows the themes in the video. For example, one exercise has the young person match body changes under "boys" and "girls." In "His and Hers," workbook users are asked to match the names of reproductive organs to drawings of the body areas.
Remember, the kit's available for checkout at the library.
You can reach Sandra Brown Kelly at 1-800-346-1234, x393, or at 981-3393, or sandrak@roanoke.com.
LENGTH: Medium: 53 linesby CNB