Teaching gender equity to two populations of vulnerable adolescents in Chicago

Access to reproductive health information and services is limited among adolescents growing up in underserved neighborhoods, as evidenced by high rates of teen pregnancy, STIs and HIV/AIDS. For twenty years, Options for Youth (OFY) has served two of the most vulnerable populations of adolescents in Chicago: 1) adolescent mothers who have a baby before the age of 18, and 2) adolescent African American males growing up on Chicago’s south side. The Subsequent Pregnancy Program (SPP) has helped more than 4,000 adolescent mothers delay a second pregnancy and Peer Advocates for Health (PAH) has trained 240 young men from 42 south side high schools to work as peer advocates for male health. Primary goals and implementation strategies are similar for both programs and seek to: improve reproductive health knowledge and lifestyle choices; increase communication skills; and build a commitment to give back to their own communities. Both programs provide intense training and use well-trained adolescents to get critical information back to their schools and neighborhoods. Through monthly “Let’s Talk About It” sessions, female SPP Peer Educators and male Peer Advocates provide co-ed presentations to students and parents which are designed to “break the ice and get the conversation started” about sensitive but vitally important topics for young people in these communities. The unique opportunity to have both a female and a male perspective, presented to their peers by well-trained adolescents, is one of the most effective ways we have found to teach and model gender equity to this age group.