Have you ever tried to explain something, or win someone over in conversation, and no matter how many excellent points you make, or how many facts you provide, you just can’t seem to get through to them? Then you might have an idea of how difficult it is to promote comprehensive sex education in Oklahoma! We know sex ed makes a positive impact on young people; we understand why it works, and we’ve heard from folks right here in Oklahoma how much they value this type of education, but it is consistently difficult to express this to an opposition that believes sex ed exists on the other side of the political landscape.
How can we drive sex ed support among people who are on the fence about it?
Let’s start by understanding strategic messaging. Strategic messaging is about understanding and aligning who your audience is and what you want them to do. This may sound simple, but it’s a little more complicated if you want your messages to really work.
A good message is targeted. The audience is a specific group of people primed to take action and who feel seen and heard, which makes them receptive to the information. People who are completely opposed to sex ed might not make the best audience, but some folks just don’t know enough about it to make an informed decision—this would be a great target audience for strategic sex ed messaging!
A good message also includes a strategic ask. Someone can only take a desired action if they know when, where, or how to make that happen. This is why a good message needs a clear, instructive call to action. Any burger advertisement on TV might make someone want a burger, but one that says “order this burger from Burger Joint #5” will be more successful in getting business to Burger Joint #5.
Let’s take the message “support sex ed by getting involved.” To start, this message is not specific to an audience, and the call to action is too broad. This message may land on the ears of parents who assume this has nothing to do with them, and even if they did like the idea of sex ed, they wouldn’t know how to get involved. A better message would be “secure a high-quality education for your child by voting for a candidate who supports sex ed in the next school board election.” This message clearly targets parents with children in the local school district. The sentence taps into a universal value of parents wanting a high-quality education for their children and assures them that it’s possible if they take action. And the action is specific: vote for the candidate who supports sex ed.
Is there a framework for this kind of effective messaging?
Theory of Planned Behavior: Attitude
Attitude deals with how someone feels. Someone’s attitude about sex ed might be that they like it, but they aren’t sure how to support it. Or it may be that they are completely opposed (reminder: this is not often our target audience because they are harder to reach). But understanding attitude is part of understanding the audience. What do they think? Where do they want to go?
Theory of Planned Behavior: Subjective Norms
Subjective norms are the typical actions or beliefs around the subject. “Subjective” means it may be an idea that is different depending on the audience, so we must determine what the audience thinks is normal when it comes to a belief, action, or subject. For example, subjective norms for sex ed depend on where in the country the audience is. Certain states, like Oklahoma, limit sex ed programs, while other states (often those with higher test scores and better education in general!) offer sex ed as an obvious inclusion in their curricula.
Theory of Planned Behavior: Perceived Control
Perceived control is a person’s individual belief about how much they can do on their own. This is where things get tricky because it’s about what someone thinks they can impact, not necessarily the call to action itself. In our message from earlier, “Secure a high-quality education for your child by voting for a candidate who supports sex ed in the next school board election,” the perceived control is not that this person can vote; it’s that they can secure a high-quality education for their child. That is a positive and powerful perception of control!
The Theory of Planned Behavior is a more detailed breakdown of really understanding who the audience is and why they do what they do. By understanding the reasons why someone makes certain decisions, it can help you target them with messages to effectively express your point and hopefully get them on board for sex ed in Oklahoma!
Essentially, strategic messaging isn’t only about what you say, but really understanding to whom you say it. Looking at advocacy efforts through the lens of strategic messaging can enhance the work, driving pivotal social change and support of sex education.
Here are more resources for effective sex education messaging to use while you craft your message:
- Communicating About Adolescent Sexual Health: Messaging That Moves | Healthy Teen Network
- Sex Education Toolkit | Advocates for Youth
- Messages that Move Action for Sex Education | educateUS