��Willing to Wait �Workshop 2023

How would you respond to these student questions?

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Questions displayed are real questions that Willing to Wait instructors have received from students.

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Tough Questions

If someone has a viral STD, they can still decide to get married and they can still have sex with their spouse. First, it would be important for them to be completely honest about their STD to their partner in order to keep that person healthy. Depending on the type of STD, there are actually medications that both the person with the STD and their partner can take to decrease the risk of spreading the STD.

If someone has a viral STD, does that mean they can’t get married since they have the STD forever?

How would you answer?

Answering Questions

1. Acknowledge every question.
2. Always be truthful.
3. Allow yourself to come back to the question later.
4. Assess if the question is looking for information or affirmation.
5. Answer the question that was asked.

Anyone who has a vagina and uterus has the potential to become pregnant.

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Can transgender people get pregnant?

How would you answer?

Willing To Wait is here to tell you how to achieve your optimal health, not tell you what is “good” or “bad”. Porn negatively impacts three areas of health. First, it can affect a person’s brain making them depend on the chemical feeling porn creates. Second, it creates unrealistic views of other people making it more difficult to build healthy relationships. Third, it impacts our society by making people feel more okay with sexual violence. Additionally, it can have serious physical and mental health consequences for those involved in the production of pornography. (For more info see Fightthenewdrug.com)

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Is watching porn bad?

How would you answer?

Vagina’s normally have odor. Good hygiene with water and mild, unscented soap is all that’s necessary. If the odor is unusually strong, or there is itching, burning, or other irritation, see a doctor.

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Can your vagina stink?

How would you answer?

The Willing to Wait program doesn’t label activities by whether they are “good” or not. We want to promote your optimal health, part of which is avoiding all sexual risk by avoiding all sexual activity until marriage. That is the safest choice for every young person.

Is it good to have sex with

the same gender?

How would you answer?

This is a value judgement, so this is something all of you need to answer for yourself based on the information you have heard in this class. However, I will remind you that we talked about how basing a relationship on sexual desire can lead to unhealthy relationships.

We also discussed some of the emotional outcomes and physical outcomes someone might face. Sex needs conversations like sexual history, testing, and consent. This may be harder to discuss if the two people do not know each other well.

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Is it weird to have sex with someone you don’t know? Why?

How would you answer?

I received a question regarding a topic that I am not approved to address. If this was your question, talk to a trusted adult, counselor or contact a resource on the back of your handbook and they would be happy to answer your question.

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Are abortions painful?

(Question written in public school with no prior reference to the topic)

How would you answer?

All of the information I have been sharing applies to both same sex relationships and relationships between people of different sexes, with the exception that there is only a risk of pregnancy if people of different sexes have sex. No matter who the two people are in a relationship, there are risks of spreading STDs if they decided to be sexually active before marriage, consent laws still apply, and there are risks of emotional consequences. Everything we talk about related to healthy relationships (honesty, respect, etc.) applies to people of any sexual orientation.

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Can we also talk about same sex relationships?

How would you answer?

• If there is a card that indicates chance of abuse, non-consensual sex, or sexual activity underage, inform the classroom teacher and school counselor so they can address it. They may already be aware of a student’s circumstance, but they may not.
• If you are unsure of how to answer a question or whether the school would be okay with it, contact the school with a few different options: skip the question, a couple different suggested responses, or let the school respond to it.
• If you get a verbal question and later realize that you didn’t answer it fully or may put a student on the spot, submit your own anonymous question card to read and answer to the class the next time you are there. This gives you more time to answer it completely without putting any students on the spot.

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Other Tips for Student Questions

• If a student asks a question that you don’t know the answer to, that is okay. Be honest that you do not know, and tell them you will research the question and answer next time.
• If you receive a question card that is unclear, read the question card to the class and say, ‘I am not exactly sure what you mean by that. Please write a new question card to clarify, and I will answer it next time.’
• It is okay to use simple language when answering student questions. It is already a hard topic to discuss, so simple language helps students process the information more easily.

Other Tips for Student Questions