Reaching Rural Adolescents with Programs in Sexuality

Abstract

In an effort to meet the special challenge of reaching rural youth the Montachusett Opportunity Councils Family Planning Program has been operating a demonstration project that provides sex education and family planning services to adolescents in the rural areas of northern Worcester County in central Massachusetts. The program was started in 1972 with Office of Economic Opportunity funding. It has been providing young people with a variety of services that include the provision of sex education classes and counseling both in and out of schools. Family planning services including counseling and referrals for problem pregnancies are made readily available. Special health related programs on such topics as breast cancer venereal disease and sex education have been presented to the community. The ultimate indicator of program effectiveness is clearly the participation and involvement of young people. Trust had to develop between young people and the counselor/educator. For this to happen it was necessary in this program for the counselor to become available to school-age youngsters by offering before-school pregnancy testing at home after-school meetings in youth centers and evening programs involving teens. Continuity in this type of program is crucial for changing staff upsets the building process. The approaches for bringing human sexuality programs to the schools must be varied and flexible. Additionally parents should be sought as allies for their support can provide the kind of credibility and acceptance in a community that would be hard to achieve through any other source.