April 27, 2000

May is Teen Pregnancy Prevention month, and Patterson will be acknowledging the time in its many related programs.

The Stanislaus County Health Services Agency runs many programs in areas which have high teen pregnancy rates, and Patterson is one. In 1997, the most recent year for accurate data, Patterson's teen age birth rate per 1000 was 96.2. That means that out of a population of 582 teens, there were 56 births.

That per 1000 rate is much higher than the county average of 62/1, and almost twice as high as the state average of 56.7. That makes Patterson a "hot spot," said Laura Tarlo, coordinator of the R.E.A.L. (Responsibility, Education, Attitude, and Leadership) project.

The R.E.A.L. project is funded by the state's Department of Health Service's Office of Community Challenge. It is, at heart, a teen pregnancy prevention program in its third year of funding.

OTHER GROUPS SUB

The program provides various programs and subcontracts with community agencies, including the Center for Human Services, The Muir Trail Girl Scout Council, and the Wakefield Healthy Start Program for other programs.

Postponing Sexual Involvement is one program, and it is run at Patterson Junior High School. PSI is a five-day course, one hour per day, which is conducted once every year. It is an abstinence-based curriculum, and the information provided helps the youths to deal with social and peer pressure to become sexually active, decision making, relationships and communication skills.

Straight Talk is a program which is run by Sal Vera, a health educator with the R.E.A.L. project. Run in conjunction with the Stanislaus County Probation Department, it is not voluntary. It was developed to work with high risk young men who are currently under probationary terms.

" I work with this program because I don't like the perception that people have of youth on probation," said Vera. He feels that society views these kids as bad or dangerous, when in reality they have just made some bad decisions. He enjoys the program because he can let his guard down.

COVERS MANY ISSUES

"I have to be real with these kids," he remarked. "I have a great time." The program covers many areas, according to Vera. Sometimes the actual agenda doesn't start until halfway through the session. "There's a lot of venting," Vera stated, and all issues from racism to voting are discussed.

Proposition 21 issues are one topic which Vera has discussed with the group. The proposition, passed in March, will allow kids who are 14 to be prosecuted as adults. Building relationships, contraception, sexually transmitted diseases, respect and responsibility are also topics.

Straight Talk is run with the cooperation of the West Side Community Alliance, and takes place at that office once a week for twelve weeks.

CIRCULO DE HOMBRES

Vera also runs Circulo de Hombres at PHS. It targets young Latino males, and is based on the indigenous culturally rooted concept of el hombre noble (the noble man). A big issue in the class is maintaining la palabra, or the credible word.

Decision making, relationship building, and birth control and respect and responsibility are also discussed. "It's one of the most well-rounded that I do," Vera mentioned. "It's like a rite of passage."

Gang prevention and intervention are discussed, but everything is taught from an indigenous perspective. "You can't know where you're going when you don't know where you came from," Vera said in explanation.

"Kids today lack identity. They don't know who they are, so they go out and become something they're not."

TRADITIONAL CRAFTS

The group does some crafts, too, like making cultural masks, leather medallions, and beadwork. Word spreads fast, and Circulo de Hombres has a waiting list of 15-20 kids.

It's easy to run, says Vera, in fact it runs itself. Traditional indigenous circles are used, talking circles, and the conversations go where the members want it to go.

Note: Part II of this article will appear in next Thursday's Patterson Irrigator. More programs will be discussed, including the Teen Outreach Program, which is run in conjunction with the Community of Caring.

Reprinted by permission of The Patterson Irrigator.