This project developed and tested the efficacy of Media Aware for High School, an interactive web-based program, designed to develop high school students’ critical thinking skills about media messages and promote sexual and relationship health. The program is highly innovative due to the inclusion of a broad range of sexual and relationship health topics; attention to media influence, a risk factor often ignored in sexual risk prevention programs; and a paradigm shift for school-based sexual health education away from teacher-led programming towards a self-paced, online format that enhances student learning.

A feasibility study revealed significant impacts of the program on student outcomes, including enhanced critical thinking about media messages; increased ability and intentions to intervene if they were a bystander to a possible sexual assault; decreased normative beliefs about the frequency of teen sexual activity and risky sexual activity; and decreased willingness to engage in risky sexual behaviors. Later research included a larger randomized controlled trial of the efficacy of the program, which provided additional evidence that Media Aware is an effective web-based program for positively enhancing high school students’ media, sexual health, and sexual health communication outcomes. Students gave positive feedback about Media Aware, especially related to the online format of the program.