Young adults can obtain accurate information through projects.
As television, movies and the Internet bombard today's youth with sexual imagery, misinformation about reproductive health flourishes. Evidence suggests that teens and young adults retain educational information with hands-on projects, especially those that involve peer-to-peer mentoring.
Youth Advisory Panel
A youth advisory panel may be implemented in a formal setting such as a school or community center. A youth advisory panel consists of a sampling of typical students who are interested in reaching out to other teens. To get started, the panel can develop a teen survey in order to identify questions or reproductive health misconceptions. After receiving the survey results, the youth panel develops and implements creative solutions and new educational formats to get the correct information out to peers. An adult with a health background should always be available to assist, answer questions and review any survey or media materials for appropriateness.
STD Class Project
Students can gain a good understanding of sexually transmitted diseases, or STDs, through a group project in science or health. Students should be divided into five or six groups, depending on how many infectious diseases the teacher would like to discuss. Each student group is assigned one common sexually transmitted disease, such as herpes or HIV, and conduct research and create a report based on their findings. In their reports, students should discuss frequency rates and other statistics, how the disease is transmitted, treatment and long-term health effects. Each group may present their reports to the entire classroom through an oral report using visuals, a PowerPoint presentation and so on.
News TV Program
Developing a fake TV news program or talk show is another project that can serve to disseminate information about reproductive health. A group of young adults research a specific topic, such as birth control facts, misconceptions about pregnancy or STDs, and create a news show based on their research. The reporting can be done in a creative way, as long as the information remains factual. An adult should supervise and review all materials before they are presented. After the show is created and recorded, it can be presented at a small assembly or in another environment where youths are likely to watch the presentation.
Movie Journal
One simple project is to have young adults keep a movie or television journal centered on representations of sex and romance in the media. Young adults first choose a popular romantic movie or television series that involves adult or teen relationships to observe. Students then write down in their journal how many unsafe practices or questionable situations the movie or show portrays. For example, if a couple of strangers fall into bed together, do they get a sexually transmitted disease? Does the woman become pregnant? Any positive role modeling observed in the television show or movie should be recorded as well.
Tags: reproductive health, sexually transmitted, about reproductive, about reproductive health, advisory panel
