Sex Education Outreach

Abstract

The high incidence of unwanted teenage pregnancy the need for information about pregnancy and prevention the lack of quality sex education and the need for parent participation provided the catalyst for developing a sexuality outreach program at Planned Parenthood of Nassau County New York. Developed in 1979 the program was implemented in the 1979-1980 school year. During this period over 4000 adolescents and over 850 parents (mostly mothers) viewed the presentations. The program was initiated with 2 part-time staff 10 motivated volunteers and limited funds. The objective was to reach large numbers of adolescents in their usual environments i.e. schools clubs church groups or youth agencies. The program emphasizes values moral reasoning and approaches to problem solving rather than modes of sexual behavior. The 1st session uses the film Are You Ready for Sex as a motivational tool to develop an understanding of the process of decision making. The film describes skills for discerning the sources of pressure considering outcomes choosing from alternatives and acting. The transition into the 2nd session is made by pointing out that the same decision making techniques are used in deciding whether to be sexually active and whether or not to become parents. A presentation was developed for parents. Vignettes were used to show several aspects of verbal styles of parent child communication. Training for the volunteers consists of 10 2 hour sessions meeting once a week. The first 2 sessions were devoted to creating a comfortable interactive group. Subsequent sessions dealt with the decision making process contraceptive information and the role of the clinic and its services and policies in the community. The training ends by pairing a trainee with an experienced facilitator for at least 1 session in the community. At each presentation questionnaires were distributed to participants presenters and group leaders. The data provide the basis for ongoing modification and improvement. Requests to repeat the presentation are running at about 90% indicating its success.