Learning Through Teaching

May 1, 2008
By: Lisa Slade

Ask an average 16-year-old boy about the effectiveness of condoms and he’s likely to blush, look away and maybe even walk off. Ask Conrad Honicker the same question, and he looks you in the face and comfortably gives an accurate answer

That’s because Honicker and seven other teens — Amber Phillips, Chuck Long, Brittny James, Catherine Collins, Vanessa Martinez, Britney Brewer and  Olivia Spooner — have just completed more than 40 hours of training through Planned Parenthood of East Tennessee’s new FYI Peer Educator program, inaugurated by Planned Parenthood Community Health Educator Ginny Winter.

Beginning in January, these eight teens attended weekly training sessions and established at least 100 informal educational contacts with friends, family or classmates to discuss health and sex education.

”They came to my youth group and asked if anyone wanted to volunteer,” says Honicker. “It baffles me that we still have only abstinence sex ed, and [I] wanted to help people who needed information, but didn’t have it at their institute of education.”

Five of the peer educators are Fulton High School students, two attend West High and one is home-schooled. They were chosen for the pilot group by Winter and Hillary Barry, Planned Parenthood intern and a candidate for a master’s degree in social work at the University of Tennessee, who interviewed teenagers like Honicker from youth groups, schools and clubs interested in volunteering for the program.

Winter says students were selected based on their time availability and enthusiasm. “We talked to their parents and to them about what their expectations were,” she says. “We wanted to make sure it was a good fit for us and them.”

Their training included contraception options and their effectiveness, sexually transmitted infections, human anatomy, pregnancy options, rape prevention, self-image and healthy relationships.

Meetings were held Monday nights from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church, and students met with contacts throughout the week, providing information or support if needed.

Winter says peer sex education has existed in Nashville for 20 years but only arrived in Knoxville last year with the FYI program.

“This is something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” says Winter. “Planned Parenthood feels very strongly that comprehensive sex education is very important for teenagers to make responsible decisions and to know the consequences if they choose not to make healthy decisions. We also know from studies that teaching comprehensive sex-ed does not convince kids to have sex. It’s part of our mission, and that’s what these kids are doing.”

Congress established a federal program to fund sex education programs promoting abstinence in 1996. Since then, funding for abstinence-only education has increased. President George W. Bush requested $242 million in abstinence-only funding for the proposed FY 2008 budget.

In a Congressional hearing April 23, groups such as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association criticized abstinence-only education for failure to address teen pregnancy and STDs -: Rates for both continue to rise. Nevertheless, U.S. Rep. John Duncan responded with continued support for federal funding of the programs.

Knox County schools solely offer abstinence-only sex education, provided by Justwait, an organization started in 1994 as East Tennessee Nurses for Health Education. Justwait emphasizes the importance of waiting until marriage to have sex, and its teachers highlight the dangers of pre-marital sex and discuss healthy marriage relationships.

Justwait director, Sarah Beth Simmons says abstinence-only programs provide adequate information for high-schoolers with three-day visits to sophomore health classes. The first day instructs students on the medical dangers of sex, providing pregnancy and STD statistics. The second day covers the “practical side of sex” and relationships. On the third day, students act out marriage scenarios and play a jeopardy-style game about the facts they learned the days before. At the end, students are given abstinence cards to sign.

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