Tackling Tough Topics: In Georgia, a PTSA Takes on HIV and Teen Pregnancy

Abstract:
This article describes a community's week-long efforts to raise awareness of teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS and to educate the community about prevention. The Parent-Teacher-Student Association (PTSA) at a high school in Gwinnett County, Georgia, coordinated with Atlanta agencies that work with HIV prevention and also coordinated with student leaders, parents, school professionals, and other community members. The group organized a community-wide forum featuring student role-plays, an 18-year-old speaker with HIV, and the then-reigning Miss America, whose platform was HIV/AIDS education. Later that fall and winter, the PTSA hosted a town hall meeting at which health care professionals and community members discussed teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS, and the group co-sponsored a series of parenting workshops. Finally, the PTSA collaborated with the AIDS Memorial Names Quilt to display panels from the Quilt at a local church. Although the impact of the programs was not rigorously evaluated, the article provides a helpful example of various community agencies collaborating for education about HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy.

Author(s): Kuersten, Joan

Publication: Our Children


Date Published: 3/1/1999

Pages: 1

Location Code: 10120