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5/5/05
Freshmen learn to make choices for themselves by Nicole Neroulias, STAFF WRITER
REDWOOD CITY
THE BIRDS chirped, the bees buzzed and the teens giggled while a PBS television film crew recorded the sex education program Wednesday at Sequoia High School.
Teen Talk, the 10-hour program taught by the Teen Pregnancy Coalition of San Mateo County, will represent one type of sex education course in the Journal Editorial Report, a series produced by the Wall Street Journal and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
The program, which airs next month, will juxtapose Sequoia's students with footage of an abstinence-only-until-marriage education program at a Texas school.
During his interview with the film crew, 14-year-old Erick Rivera strongly opposed abstinence-only programs, although he admitted some Sequoia students "rebelled" against Teen Talk's instructions to use condoms.
"The program is perfect the way it is. They're doing everything they can to keep people safe," he said, swinging his legs from the picnic bench in the schoolyard. "I think it's a person's decision to do what they want."
Upstairs in Room 133, the film crew documented the lastgroup of ninth-graders to go through this year's Teen Talk course.
Seven students remained seated in the back of the room, either uncomfortable with the cameras or lacking permission slips to participate. At the front, 15 of their classmates blushed and stammered through instructor Kris Ahmed's review of different types of birth control and their effectiveness.
But when Ahmed asked why sex education was important, several hands went up.
"You're too young to have a baby. You can't support it," Manuel Andrade said confidently.
"If you don't use a condom, you might get an STD," another student offered. "You want to protect (your partner)."
Although Teen Talk educates teenagers about types of birth control and sexual behavior, abstinence -- nicknamed "100% Pure Fruit Juice" in Ahmed's diagram -- is still emphasized as the only foolproof way to avoid pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.
The Teen Pregnancy Coalition began in Redwood City in 1988 as a way to help young mothers finish their education. Seven years ago, it expanded to offer comprehensive sex education to eighth-through- 12th-grade students in public schools around San Mateo County.
For more information, visit www.teenpregnancycoalition.org or call (650) 367-1937.
Staff writer Nicole Neroulias covers Redwood City, East Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Atherton. She can be reached at (650) 306-2427 or nneroulias@sanmateocountytimes.com. |
