"Colleagues and I have fantasized about a national 'petting project' for teenagers .... A partial list of safe sex practices for teens could include: Talking, Flirting, Dancing, Hugging, Kissing, Necking, Massaging, Caressing, Undressing each other, Masturbation alone, Masturbation in front of a partner, Mutual masturbation. Teens could surely come up with their own list of activities."
— A passage from Debra Haffner's article "Safe Sex and Teens" in the September-October 1989 SIECUS Report, quoted by Jane Jiminez in "SIECUS Redefines Humanity."
All of Haffner's "petting" ideas have been incorporated into SIECUS's anti-abstinence "comprehensive sexuality education" curriculum, as well as other bizarre little touches like this acrostic, from an article on the SIECUS sex-ed Web site Families are Talking, "How Do I Know if I'm Ready for Sex?". It's meant to remind teens of things to think about before having sex:
Can (consent)Got it? Before having sex, teens are supposed to remember the words, "Can U Have My Pleasure?" Call it sex ed a la Prince.
U (not using)
Have (honest)
My (mutually pleasurable)
Pleasure (protected)
