TEEN VOICES

Peer Education Program

  Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties

Fact Sheet

TEEN VOICES is the adolescent pregnancy prevention and youth development program of Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties (PPOD).  By providing adolescents with medically accurate, factual information, TEEN VOICES empowers teenagers to make responsible choices based on their own ethics and values.

·         TEEN VOICES involves Durham County high school students in a 40-hour training program that provides information and skill development related to a variety of teen health issues.  Peer Educators have the opportunity to earn up to $300 by successfully completing the program.

·         TEEN VOICES Peer Educators receive training around the issues of sexuality, healthy relationships, abstinence and contraceptive options, suicide prevention, body image and eating disorders, communication and decision making skills, job skills, higher education and goal setting. 

·         PPOD plans to train 45 Peer Educators between March 2000 and March 2001.  The TEEN VOICES Peer Educators will potentially educate 1,350 members of the Durham community.

·         PPOD has partnered with 15 other Durham community organizations to provide TEEN VOICES training. Training partners include Durham County Health Department, North Carolina Lambda Youth Network, Rape Crisis of Durham, and the Yellow Ribbon Youth Suicide Prevention Program.

·         TEEN VOICES began in March 2000 with funding from the North Carolina Department of Social Services Workfirst Pilot Projects and the Fox Family Foundation of Durham.

Peer Education works!  Numerous studies show that peer education is an effective way to help youth develop healthy behaviors not only in sexual health but also in violence prevention and substance abuse prevention. (Advocates for Youth, 1997)

·         Trained Peer Educators can be a more credible source of information than adult educators.  They communicate in a language that is more likely to be understood and serve as positive role models to dispel the normative misconception that most adolescents are engaging in high risk behaviors.

(Diclemente, RJ.  “Confronting the Challenges  of AIDS among adolescents: Directions for Future Research.”  Journal of Adolescent Research, 1993)

·         Peer Educators themselves benefit from programs.  One study showed clear benefits, such as increased knowledge of HIV, an increased comfort discussing sensitive issues, and an appreciation and tolerance of difference life styles for peer educators themselves. (Park Slope Project Reach Youth, Inc. and Hunter College Center on AIDS, Drugs, and Community Health.  Final Report on Project SAFE Evaluation Study, August 1992)

WHEREAS, the TEEN VOICES Peer Education Program is an adolescent pregnancy prevention and youth development program, sponsored by Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties; and

What are the numbers??

·         Although teen pregnancy and birth rates have steadily been declining through the 1990s, 4 out of 10 girls still get pregnant at least once before the age of 20 in the United States.  The U.S. still has the highest rates of teen pregnancy and birth of any industrialized country. (The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy)

·         From 1993-1998 Durham County’s adolescent pregnancy rate for 15-19 year olds was higher than the state average 5 out of 6 years.  In 1998 Durham County’s teen pregnancy rate was 87.3 (per 1,000), while the state average was 85.5. (NC Center for Health Statistics, Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina)
 
 

 

A RESOLUTION ENDORSING THE TEEN VOICES PEER EDUCATION PROGRAM (2000-09-25/R-)

WHEREAS, TEEN VOICES empowers teenagers to make responsible choices based on their own ethics and values, by providing them with medically accurate, factual information; and

WHEREAS, TEEN VOICES Peer Educators receive 40 hours of training on a variety of teen health and social concerns, and then share this information with friends, family, and community members; and

WHEREAS, TEEN VOICES began as a pilot program in Durham County, training 45 Peer Educators who in turn educated over 1,350 members of the community between March 2000 and March 2001; and

WHEREAS, Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties is now applying for funding from the North Carolina Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program to expand peer education programming to Orange County; and

WHEREAS, the United States still leads the industrialized world in teen pregnancy and birth rates, despite recently declining rates; and

WHEREAS, adolescent pregnancy in North Carolina cost North Carolina taxpayers $807,800,000 in Fiscal Year 1997; and

WHEREAS, Orange County’s 1999 rate of adolescent pregnancy per 1,000 15-19 year old girls was 35.9, according to the Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Coalition of North Carolina;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Chapel Hill Town Council endorses Planned Parenthood of Orange and Durham Counties’ proposal to the North Carolina Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention Program, because the TEEN VOICES Peer Education Program will serve our high school students and partner with area human services organizations in an effort to continue reducing the rate of adolescent pregnancy in Chapel Hill and Orange County.

This the 25th day of September 2000.