Project for Teens

What does the program intend to accomplish?

Project for Teens (P4T) Peer Leaders serve as dynamic and positive role models to:

• Promote healthy/responsible decision-making among younger age peers
• Provide accurate information about risks associated with teen sexual activity
• Support the “norm” that it is OK to say “no” to early sexual involvement
• Teach communication skills – including negotiation and refusal skills – that younger students can apply in “risky” situations

What types of services are provided?

P4T is a volunteer peer education/service learning program involving 30 – 40 students representing three Mankato-area high schools. Each year, students are trained as peer leaders and are provided with information and tools to address audiences in lower grade levels (6th and 8th grade students – totaling over 900 students during the 2008-09 school year) with messages that promote healthy decision-making around youth risk behaviors. P4T Peer Leaders also provide learning experiences for youth audiences from a range of southern Minnesota communities that attend the annual Youth Health Conference sponsored by the University of Minnesota Extension Service (totaling 150 students in 2009). P4T learning experiences include activities to engage audiences that are interactive (skits, role plays, small group discussion) and seek to reflect audience age, experience, and values. District #77 Health Teachers serve as P4T Advisors and are primary contacts for P4T Peer Leaders – providing guidance, support and opportunities for student reflection related to their P4T service learning experience.

These activities are planned according to the school calendar as follows:

What information or data (local and/or national) have you collected that show there is a need for this program?

According to the 2010 Minnesota Student Survey, 27% of 9th grade males and 17% of 9th grade females report having had sexual intercourse. This percentage increases among 12th graders, with 41% of males and 45% of females reporting that they have had sexual intercourse. Research cited in A Work In Progress v.2: Building a Minnesota State Plan for Teen Pregnancy Prevention and Parenting (Center for Adolescent Health and Development, University of MN; 2003) notes that “peer relationships create both protective and risk factors. Teens continually and mutually influence each other, in both positive and negative ways. Youth who think their peers are sexually active have a greater risk of teen pregnancy then their counterparts.” P4T Peer Leaders seek to foster a climate of respect and sense of connection among younger-age peers, to reinforce the notion that it is OK to say “no” to sexual activity, and to provide information/tools to prepare youth for situations that may put them “at risk”.

In partnership with Mankato area schools, CHAP has been involved for over ten years in supporting the efforts of P4T. This program has provided a successful means for creating meaningful peer-led conversations about teen sexuality and other youth risk behaviors. 6th and 8th grade audiences respond very favorably to P4T Peer Leaders and the learning opportunities that are provided during P4T presentations. According to school health teachers, P4T is a program upon which school teaching

staff has come to rely as part of their overall health and sexuality curriculum. Feedback received from P4T Peer Leaders also reiterates the value of their connection with younger students around sexual health issues. When asked to indicate what they perceived to be the most important outcomes for the student audiences they connect with, P4T Peer Leaders shared the following comments (sample from ’08-09 school year):

• Them finding that inner self-confidence to say “no” to destructive decisions
• To teach them about the positive effects of staying abstinent
• Helping them with decisions for the future
• I think it is important for students to realize that not every high school student is sexually active

CHAP’s focus on teen pregnancy prevention has its roots in the early years of our organization when community members took action to address a significantly high rate of teen pregnancy, with particular concern about pregnancy involving younger-age teens. Ongoing evaluation and reflection efforts by CHAP’s Board of Directors (whose members represent a diverse range of community organizations/interests) have served to solidify its commitment to this focus area.

What kind of changes, challenges, or trends have you noticed that are impacting your program? Have there been external factors affecting your program that are out of your control? (Brainstorming Ideas: funding streams, participant’s needs, changes in community)?

CHAP is an outgrowth of the Mankato Heart Health Program intervention study initiated in our community over 20 years ago. Royalties generated through the publication of a heart health cookbook served to provide funding for youth health promotion/prevention activities for many years. Royalty funding no longer exists to provide this support. CHAP relies upon the support of the local community to continue to serve its mission. State and federal funding to support research-based approaches to teen pregnancy prevention has not been available over the past several years. At the same time, teen pregnancy rates have increased for the first time in 20 years at both the State (6%) and National (3%) level. It is the hope of the CHAP Board of Directors that funds recently allocated by the Federal Administration can be accessed locally to address “at risk” youth with enhanced teen pregnancy prevention programming. In the mean time, funding support form the Greater Mankato Area United Way is more important than ever to continue to address the needs of youth and families in our community around this issue.