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Preparing a generation to choose healthy behaviors that cultivate educational, economic and relational success.

Since 2002, DCO has provided Sexual risk avoidance primary prevention education for over 98,000 students in public and private schools, community ORGANIZATIONs and faith based groups in TENNESSEE and across the mid-south. We are COMMITTED to POSITIVE and optimal health outcomes for this generation of adolescents, their parents and community leaders.

 
 

ON THE BLOG

Blog
Developing a Positive Identity
Developing a Positive Identity
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Adoption Language
Adoption Language
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Thankfulness For Family
Thankfulness For Family
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10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 10
10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 10

To Help Their Children Avoid Teen Pregnancy.

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10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 9
10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 9

To Help Their Children Avoid Teen Pregnancy.

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10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 8
10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 8
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10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 7
10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 7

To Help Their Children Avoid Teen Pregnancy.

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10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 5&6
10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 5&6
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10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 3&4
10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 3&4

To Help Their Children Avoid Teen Pregnancy

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10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 2
10 Tips for Parents :: TIP 2

To Help Their Children Avoid Teen Pregnancy.

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MAKING AN IMPACT

 
 
 
 
 

FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM 

 
BOUNDARIES IN FRIENDSHIPS/RELATIONSHIPS This week we will discuss how to determine if a friendship/relationship is healthy or not and how to set boundaries to protect ourselves in our friendships and relationships. Tag your best friend in the comments to win a prize!
EXPRESS YOUR FEELINGS As we start establishing these social boundaries, we need to learn how to express our feelings and thoughts with our friends and trusted adults in our lives. Being honest about how you feel in a situation is very important in setting boundaries and sticking to those boundaries.
EVALUATE THE SITUATION When talking about boundaries in social settings, it is important that we learn how to evaluate the situation. We need to learn what is going on before we put ourselves in a bad situation. For example: Let's say our boundary is not to drink alcohol under age, and there is a party Friday night. Before deciding to go to the party, we need to learn if there will be alcohol there or not AND if there will be adults there. If there is going to be alcohol and no adults, then we should just stay home because we never want to purposefully put ourselves in a situation that would tempt us to cross a boundary.
REFUSAL SKILLS Refusal skills are things you can say or do in order to stay safe when someone is pressuring you to cross your boundary. Here is a list of a few common refusal skills: - Give a reason why you cannot or will not participate - Ignore the request or pressure - Leave the situation - Say no, and mean it - Keep saying no - Suggest something else to do - Change the subject - Team up with a friend to say no
FRIENDS WITH THE SAME BOUNDARIES When we choose friends who have the same boundaries as us, then we know that they will not try to pressure us to cross our boundaries. Also, if we are ever in a situation where we may be tempted to cross our boundaries, they are there to hold us accountable. Having safe and healthy friends can protect in many social situations.
SOCIAL BOUNDARIES This week we are going to discuss setting boundaries and how we can keep ourselves safe while hanging out with friends. Comment below your favorite thing to do with your friends and tag your best friend for a chance to win a prize!
SEXTING Sexting is the sending and receiving of sexually explicit text messages and images. Sexting is not only dangerous because it can lead to legal trouble (see TN state law below), but sexting also negatively affects self-worth. We need to agree to respect ourselves enough not to send pictures of ourselves to others and to respect others enough to not ask for pictures. WE ARE WORTH SO MUCH MORE THAN A PICTURE. EVERYONE HAS A MIND AND PERSONALITY AND DESERVES TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT!
STRANGER DANGER When talking about media use, it is very important that we address the risk of coming in contact with sexual predators. Social Media and gaming chat rooms can put us at risk of interacting with people who's goal is to hurt us. How do we protect ourselves? Only add people as friends or talk to people online that you have actually met in person and can verify that they are who they say they are.