This program, developed as a project for the National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health, is designed to broach those hard-to-talk-about topics with middle-school students (maybe even some high schoolers) and raise their awareness of such things, of social pressures, choices and risks they'll face growing into maturity.

Set in the cartoon-graphics studios of the WSTD TV station, the program includes a game show "You Better Know This!" (multiple-choice education in STDs), a TV talk show "Talking the Talk" (all about relationships and sex), a neat newsroom activity (players must edit together from clips a TV-news broadcast segment about STDs and HIV), and the actors guild (sit in on movie-clip rehearsals where young actors role-play responses to sexual peer pressure situations). A glossary, references and access to educational Web materials round out this comprehensive program.

It's colorful, and well-made. There's a touch of humor to lighten things up, and it's sensitive to its mission and target audience. The only drawback is the price: Made with classroom use in mind, the individual retail price of $89.95 is probably prohibitive for some families whose kids could learn a thing or two of value from it. Hope that your child's school invests in it.