On August 14th, Bay Area Communities for Health Education hosted a #Back2SexEd Tweetchat to bring together sexual health educators, health providers, community organizers, and other advocates to have a discussion on supporting and enhancing comprehensive sex education for youth.
The chat was co-hosted by multiple partners working in sexuality education and reproductive health for young people . These organizations include Planned Parenthood of Northern California, Forward Together, Scenarios USA, Teen Talk, and The California Family Health Council, whose missions are all centered around reproductive freedom.
YTH also participated in the tweetchat! As leaders in youth tech health innovation, advocating for improved and accessible sex education is right up our alley. As a co-host of this Twitter chat, YTH not only participated and facilitated discussion, but helped to promote and get the word out.
We know that youth health providers play a critical role in sex education- young people are after all, more reliant on public health services and sexuality-focused support systems. This is because of the lack of education that exists in schools, teens having less access to income, and often, a lack of parental support. That’s why this tweet chat was so critical- it brought together both parents and teens, as well as these providers, to expand this conversation and fill in the gaps that too often exist between the providers and those in need of services.
The National Library of Medicine is also working to change this reality, by cataloging resources specifically for teens and health educators who work with them. They have Medline resources on HIV/AIDS specifically designed for children and teens and educational videos that are easy for young people to access. AIDS NLM also understands the importance of expanding resources and education for teens and has two resource guides for adolescents.
In the realm of resources, YTH has created a digital storytelling campaign, #TeenMomsTalkBack, to highlight the voices of teen parents. We’ve also helped to create mobile technology that connects Latina women in California to health and domestic violence services, and Just/Us, a resource for young people of color to access information on HIV/AIDS.
We know that bringing together sexuality educators and young people is critical to positive public health outcomes. Let’s get #Back2SexEd together!
