"Give Students the Worst"

When working with students on sensitive issues (sexual assault, alcohol, and drugs), many educators make the mistake of only providing the most positive options. Give the students precise ways to react to the most positive and the most negative scenarios. By doing so, you are providing students with the tools they will need for all situations. For instance, in my "Can I Kiss You?" program, we role-play an "asking for a kiss" scene. We play it both ways (with the partner wanting the kiss and with the partner saying, "No"). By doing so, students have nothing to fear because they have learned how to handle both possibilities.

Plus, you will be much more credible with the students. If you don't prepare them for the tougher situations, they will get into those moments and feel lost. Once they feel lost, they may tell themselves that doing the "right thing" is too difficult or simply not realistic. We want to always help everyone make the "right" choice.