WHEDco Teens Applaun Newly Mandated Sex Educaton Curriculum
August 10, 2011
In 2006, ten 14-year-old pioneering young women participating in a WHEDco after-school program decided that sex education should be mandatory in middle school. Their efforts led to the creation of JAM, Just Ask Me, a peer-led sex education program.
JAM founders Yanilsa Frias, Emily Godoy and Channell Joseph applaud the Mayor's decision to mandate sex education in public middle and high schools. (Photo courtesy of the New York Daily News)
The student-led JAM Program has been empowering teens to teach sexual education to their peers and advocating for improved school policies since its founding in 2009. In the past two years, 15 peer educators have taught approximately 250 6th - 8th grade students participating in WHEDco's after-school program.
JAM's founding young women, now high school graduates heading off to college, were thrilled to learn today about the City's decision to mandate sex education in middle and high schools.
"We applaud Chancellor Walcott's announcement that New York's public schools will, once again, teach young people about reproductive health. We have long known that teen parenting correlates to school drop-out rates. Providing young people with the information and tools they need to have safe sex and prevent pregnancies will go a long way toward helping them build a better future," said WHEDco's President, Nancy Biberman.
