Teaching Sex--It’s a GUYS Thing

It used to be that embarrassed adolescents would rather eat Brussels sprouts, clean their room or do most anything rather than take sex education class--especially when a stodgy health teacher their parents’ age was doing the talking.

But a new program out of Northridge Hospital Medical Center called GUYS--Gentlemen Understanding Youth and Sex--has middle school kids packing classrooms across the San Fernando Valley to learn about sex and its consequences.

“I came here to learn,” said 13-year-old Emerson Salazar, a GUYS student at Van Nuys Middle School.

The GUYS program is funded through next year by the California Department of Health and Human Services Office of Family Planning. It is different than sex education classes because high school kids are doing the talking. The middle school students do not receive any credit for the class, but they receive a few snacks each session and the chance to win a day at an amusement park.

“Usually the kids that just giggle and laugh about sex are treating this very seriously,” said Antonio Delgado, principal at Van Nuys Middle School, one of four middle schools in the Valley offering the program. “These high school kids grab [the middle school boys’] attention and they want to stay.”

Joseph Ramos, 17, a senior at Van Nuys High School, is one of 18 peer educators who has been with the GUYS program since its inception two years ago. After 45 hours of initial training, he now spends two afternoons a week at middle schools talking about pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and male responsibility.

“A lot of the kids think that just because they can produce sperm then that makes them a man,” Joseph said. “But we teach them there is more to it.”

On a recent afternoon, Joseph--with 30 seventh- and eighth-grade boys listening in rapt attention--led a discussion on the facts and myths about sex that would make some parents blush.

“Actually, the subject matter has never been a problem for me,” Joseph said.

As he roamed from the front of the room and walked between desks where the boys sat, he dispelled schoolyard rumors about STDs, pregnancy and whether sex makes a relationship better.

“That’s a big-time myth,” he said. “Sex can make a relationship worse or at the very least, strange.”

A majority of the boys in the classroom said they had not even thought about having sex. But the idea behind the program is to reach them before they have sex and to stress abstinence first and foremost--and responsibility if all else fails.

“When the time comes,” said 12-year-old Julio Juarez, “I’ll be quick to think about this class.”

Joseph isn’t shy about admitting that he first had sex around the age of the boys he mentors. He says his first experience had a lot to do with peer pressure.

“I look back on that now,” he said, “and I see I wasn’t responsible. I want to make middle school kids aware that you can wait and it’s OK.”

During the six-week class, Joseph talks about peer pressure, how the media portrays sex, self-esteem, relationships and the reality of raising a baby. He’ll do whatever it takes to make a point. He once demonstrated on his hand how to use a condom.

“Most of these kids don’t know anything about sex, and [the program] gives them knowledge and that is powerful.”

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The program also gives the boys the chance to ask questions they otherwise would not dare ask. A box is passed around the classroom each session for anonymous questions the boys write on folded paper. Questions can range from inquiries about gay sex to masturbation.

“These high school guys understand,” said Omar Acosta, 13, of Van Nuys. “They’re like teenagers, too.”

But the power of the program extends both ways, especially for Joseph, who initially signed up for the program and its $6.75 an hour stipend because he thought it would help his college resume.

“The program has helped me in so many ways,” said Joseph, who is now considering a career in teaching. “Before I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life.”

Next week the boys in GUYS class at Van Nuys Middle School will be treated to a pizza party. Then at the end of the program the two that have scored the highest on class homework will be treated to a day at a local amusement park.

“The key thing is we’ve taught them responsibility,” Joseph said. “And I think they will remember that when the time comes.”