The World Starts With Me (WSWM) Program
The World Starts With Me (WSWM) is a Comprehensive Adolescence Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Program implemented in Uganda by SchoolNet Uganda in 180 secondary schools across the country as of 2011 with technical and financial support from RutgersWPF As of 31 December 2010 World Population Foundation and Rutgers Nisso Groep have merged into RutgersWPF.
In 2003, World Population Foundation, in cooperation with Butterfly Works and SchoolNet Uganda , developed and started implementing an innovative computer-based, ICT-based curriculum on sexual reproductive health and rights curriculum available on CD and online at the World Starts With Me website.
In 2004, WSWM received the Golden Nica Award by Prix Ars Electronica in the digital communities category for its relevancy and innovativeness at a gala event in New York City. The other 2004 Golden Nica Award was recieved by Wikipedia. The Golden Nica is a gold plated replica of the Greek Nike of Samothrace. Nike of Samothrace is a 3rd (third) century marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory). Since 1884, it has prominently been displayed at the Lourve and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world.
In 2009 ,UNESCO published International Guidelines for good, effective sexuality education programmes. The digital curriculum ‘The World Starts With Me’ (WSWM) was one of the 18 curricula which the guidelines were based upon. It is viewed as a good example of the ideal form of sexuality education.
The World Starts With Me (WSWM) Curriculum
The WSWM curriculum is designed for youth in the age bracket of 12-19 years. It uses experiential learning as the didactic method and follows the principles of three combined approaches: Adolescent development, behaviour change and human rights-based approach. This combination empowers the young people not only to obtain required knowledge but also to develop appropriate attitudes and learn healthy and responsible behaviour and life skills (communication skills, learn how to refuse and negotiate, using health services, etc). In addition, young people learn how to unfold their creative and IT skills as preparation for modern job opportunities.
As the integration of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in daily life all over the world is a fact, for most formal jobs basic ICT skills are a necessity. Missing out on basic ICT skills is not an option for talented and motivated youth. Providing relevant and youth-friendly ICT training that attracts youth to experiment more with computers is therefore a necessity. The youth do not need to have previous computer experience. Teachers need to be youth-friendly, interested in supporting young people in decision-making and skilled in participatory teaching styles and using ICT tools.
The World Starts With Me (WSWM) is based on the following principles:
- 1. Openness and acceptance of young people’s sexuality and not on taboos.
- 2. A positive, non-judgmental approach towards sexuality and not on fear or control.
- 3. Equity in gender.
- 4. The rights of young people to accurate and correct information and to self-determination, in order to make own responsible choices.
- 5. Active participation of young people, seeing young people as actors and agents of change instead of recipients of information.
The WSWM curriculum structure consists of a student’s part and a teacher’s part and provides for each of the 14 lessons; the learning objectives, warming up’s, presentations, games, tools, guidelines, stories and assignments.
To receive information students, are assisted by two virtual digital peer educators (Rose and David), who give detailed information on the different issues addressed: building self esteem, relationships, sexuality, HIV/AIDS etc.
While the virtual digital peer educators are the main source of information in the WSWS curriculum, the games, role plays and assignments serve to help students apply and internalize this information, explore opinions and exercise skills such as creating a storyboard, art work or role play using digital means. By integrating active ICT skills, students become computer literate which can contribute to their future employment opportunities.
The World Starts With Me (WSWM) Curriculum Content
WSWM curriculum is a very comprehensive sexuality education curriculum divided in 14 lessons. The 14 WSWM lessons are set up in a logical sequence of themes to guarantee the efficacy of the curriculum.
(a) Part 1 of the WSWM Curriculum
Lesson 1- The World Starts With Me: Young people develop a realist self-image and self-esteem (confidence in self, appreciation of self, belief in one’s ability and being positive about oneself).
Lesson 2 – Emotional Ups and Downs: Young people learn that mood swings are due to changes in hormonal levels and learn about the emotional challenges of an adolescent by reflecting on the issues they encounter.
Lesson 3 – Is your body changing too?: Young people learn about body changes in boys and girls and that body changes are part of turning from childhood to adulthood and that that different people change differently.
Lesson 1-3 lay the foundation of decision-making by building self-esteem, getting insight in own sexual development (puberty and adolescence) and exploring the processes of developing autonomy and own values and norms.
(b) Part 2 of the WSWM Curriculum
Lesson 4- Friends and Relationships: Young people the importance of friends in the process of growing up and their influence on their behaviours. They get to understand the changing relationship with their parents and learn how to handle the rather conflicting demands from friends, parents and the community.
Lesson 5- Boys & Girls, Men & Women: Young people learn about gender and the role it plays in life and how gender impacts on them and their social environment.
Lesson 6 – Fight for your Rights: Young people learn about the rights all human beings are entitled to in the light of Sexual Reproductive Health along with responsibilities.
After the internal focus in lessons (1-3), in lessons (4-6), the focus shifts to the social environment. The decreasing dependency on parents and the increasing dependence of peers among adolescents is addressed. The young people learn how to identify good friends from bad friends and how to resist negative peer influence. Young people become aware of the cultural and political influences in the environment on gender roles and get empowered to fight for their sexual and reproductive rights and to respect the rights of others.
(c) Part 3 of the WSWM Curriculum
Lesson 7 – Sexuality and Love: Young people learn that meaning of sexuality and its role in their lives and the different ways of expressing intimacy and their degrees of riskiness or safeness. They develop skills of relating with the opposite sex without having sexual intercourse.
Lesson 8- Pregnancy for Girls and Boys too: Young people get to understand that pregnancy is a beautiful thing only if done at the right time and under the right circumstances. They reflect on the consequences and responsibilities of pregnancy for both girls and boys.
Lesson 9 – Protect yourself against STIs and HIV/AIDS: Young people learn about the risks of STIs and HIV/AIDS. They reflect on their options and then make their own independent choices on how best to protect themselves
Lesson 10 – HIV/AIDS you have a role to play: Young people learn about HIV/AIDS and its many personal and social consequences and the roles they have to play in the fight against the spread of HIV whether they are positive or negative.
Lesson 11- Love Shouldn’t Hurt: Young people get to know how to sense incidents of sexual abuse, how to avoid risky situations which may lead to sexual abuse, how to negotiate and/or fight themselves out of risky situations and what to do in case they are sexually abused.
Knowing themselves, aware of social influences and entitled to their rights, the sexual health problems of sexuality are addressed in lesson 7-11.
By learning to communicate openly and how to discuss sexual health risks related to pregnancy, STIs and HIV/AIDS, young people are supported by strengthening personal decision-making on own sexual behaviour and learning to respect decisions of a partner. Respecting the rights to self-determination, to physical and mental integrity and to protection and health care is the core value in addressing stigma, sexual harassment and abuse. The sexual health part integrates how and where to look for support in case of sexual health problems.
(c) Part 4 of the WSWM Curriculum
Lesson 12 – My Future Dreams: Young people identify their own characteristics and are proud of them. They also identify things they must do and not do in order to achieve their dreams.
Lesson 13 – My Top Tips for Peers: Young people summarize in slogans for themselves what they have learned and what they have found most important in the whole course. They learn the basic peer education skills for passing on to peers the ideas & messages learned in the course.
Lesson 14 – The Exhibition: Young people prepare, exhibit and make a public presentation of the World Starts With Me to their parents, peers and the community.
In lessons (12-14), Young people use the lessons learned in lessons (1-11) for goal setting, planning their future and learning to share them with peers and the community. The curriculum is completed with making peer books and inviting parents and the community to the exhibition which shows the artifacts the students have been producing at the end of every lesson; slogans, posters, poems, testimonies, art work, skits peer books etc.
The World Starts With Me (WSWM) Lesson Structure
Each WSWM lesson has:
- 1. Learning objectives: These have been categorized into three: What a student should know after the lesson (knowledge). How the student should feel about certain issues after the lesson (Attitude). What a student should be a able to do after the lesson (Skills).
- 2. Theme based warm up exercises that get students relaxed and focused.
- 3. Presentation of David and Rose who are the virtual peer educators and main source of knowledge in the curriculum.
- 4. At the end of every lesson students produce artifacts in form of role plays, poems, artwork, skits, testimonies etc reflecting their learning from the lesson.
The World Starts With Me (WSWM) Project Cycle Activities
The WSWM project cycle starts in January and ends in December of the same year. The project cycle activities include:
- 1. A 2-day sensitization workshop for the school administrators of the new WSWM schools.
- 2. A 2-day orientation workshops for the WSWM support team.
- 3. A 6-day training workshop for teachers and school nurses of the new WSWM schools.
- 4. A 2-day kick-off workshop for the teachers of the old WSWM schools.
- 5. One-day in-school sensitization seminars for teaching and non-teaching staff of the WSWM schools.
- 6. One-day sensitization seminars for the parents of the students in a WSWM school.
- 7. On-going training of the WSWM students covering 14 WSWM lessons in a period of 1 year.
- 8. A 2-day knowledge sharing workshop and orientation workshop for the Head teachers of the old WSWM schools specifically targeting those Head teachers recently transferred to the WSWM schools.
- 9. A 2-day mid-term review workshop for all the WSWM schools.
- 10. 5-day training workshops for WSWM Student Peer Educators.
- 11. End of project cycle exhibitions by the WSWM students to peers, parents and the general communities.
The WSWM Online Support Center
- 1) A section where students submit Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) questions, which are then, submitted to SchoolNet Uganda online counselors who then send answers to the students’ emails for very personal questions. Answers to questions of a general nature are uploaded on the website for the benefit of other students in Uganda and other countries. Other people can also provide additional answers to any particular student’s question using the Got any Response or Comment, Please share it… option provided at the bottom of each question.
- 2) A section where students and teachers share their poems, articles, speeches on SRHR-related issues.
- 3) A section where students and teachers share their personal testimonies of how the WSWM has impacted on their lives.
- 4) A video gallery of young people’s videos including art pieces, testimonies, poems, skits, etc.
- 5) A photo gallery showcasing students art pieces illustrating certain SRHR issues, photos of WSWM students, exhibitions and other activities.
- 6) A Reports section with WSWM-related reports including teachers, head teachers and parents’ sensitization workshop, student’s camp reports, in-school teachers’ sensitization workshops, kick-off and mid-term review reports.
- 7) An automatic newsletter which is sent out periodically containing the new content uploaded during that period. Interested people automatically subscribe themselves to the newsletter on the website
- 8. A section for making WSWM-related inquiries and feedback .
All information provided on this website is for the purpose of education, information and discussion only and is not a replacement or substitute for consultations with your medical or health adviser. If you have any concerns about your health, please see a health adviser or doctor immediately.
