7 AUTUMN 2013
the Buffalo Public Schools, Evergreen Health Services has begun offering free, confiden al rapid HIV tes ng on a weekly basis at Benne High School (in collabora on with their Kaleida Health Clinic). Evergreen Health Services staff has also been offering weekly HIV tes ng on-site at Tapestry Charter School since January. While the incidence of known HIV infec ons is s ll rela vely low among high school youth, the true infec on rate could be much higher than we think, as youth are far more likely to be newly-infected and therefore symptom-free, and less likely to seek out HIV tes ng than the general popula on. In fact, adolescents as a group are among the most vulnerable to HIV infec on, due to their cogni ve development, feelings of invincibility, self-esteem issues, risky behaviors and impulsivity. The experience of having an HIV test and the opportunity to ask ques ons and talk about sexual health with qualified professionals are both key to changing these sexual risk behaviors. "Kids today have very few avenues where they can obtain accurate informa on," said Jennifer DeMarsh, Test Counselor at Evergreen Health Services and one of the in-school testers. "They're desperate for knowledge and seeking out adults they can trust in order to get it. With our counselors in the schools we can combat the overwhelming amount of misinforma on they're ge ng from their peers or on the internet. Once we engage them in conversa on, they ask intelligent, though ul ques ons that are o en the same as the ones we answer when tes ng adults." Unfortunately, adolescent sexual health isn't on the radar for most funding sources, and Evergreen Health Services is working to find a dedicated source of funding that will allow this cri cal service to con nue. "People don't realize that the me to treat this as a crisis is right now," said DeMarsh. "Otherwise we'll see these kids in our wai ng room five years down the road and wonder why nobody did anything to help them." DeMarsh adds that mee ng young people on their own
turf is especially important. "When we test in the schools it's non-stop for the whole shi , but not many of them will get on a bus and come downtown to get tested at Evergreen." Early detec on and treatment is essen al to living a long healthy life with HIV, but there are other advantages to in-school HIV tes ng as well. It normalizes the process for young people, removing the mystery, fear and s gma from ge ng an HIV test. Students can also receive informa on or referrals for other health issues, including sexually transmi ed infec ons (STI). According to a recent Department of Health study, in certain Buffalo zip codes as many as 75% of high school students have had at least one STI, which seems unbelievable but DeMarsh says her observa on supports that figure. Maisha Drayton, Senior Director of Staff Development at the Evergreen Associa on, is another staff member who is passionate about educa on and working for change in the schools. "It all happens in the schools," said Drayton. "It wasn't designed to be that way, but that's how it is, and we have to adapt and change instead of slapping a Band-Aid on the problem. Right now we don't have a lot of tools that are really working for students." For the past two years Drayton has been a member of the Buffalo Public Schools Sexual Health Commi ee, a group formed to improve collabora on between stakeholders (parents, educators and the community), and develop and implement a comprehensive sex ed curriculum that is medically accurate, research-based, and aligned with state and na onal standards. The curriculum will mo vate and assist students to maintain and improve their health, prevent disease, and reduce health risk behaviors. Up un l now, state law mandated that schools cover HIV and AIDS, but the requirements were vague, and in Buffalo schools the lesson plans varied widely from school to school or even classroom to classroom. The Sexual Health Commi ee is working with teachers and schools to standardize the curriculum throughout the district. As of September 2013, approximately
half of the district's health teachers have been trained to use the new curriculum, and posttraining feedback from the teachers has so far been overwhelmingly posi ve. Buffalo's new sex ed curriculum represents an undeniable leap forward, but a number of barriers remain, such as discomfort with sexual topics on the part of parents or teachers, the enormous amount of misinforma on students deal with on a daily basis, cultural or maturity differences among students, or lack of resources (including classroom me). It's also a challenge to keep the curriculum current, and make sure it's useful to those students who are already sexually ac ve as well as those who are not. Ongoing training and refinement of the curriculum will hopefully help mi gate or even eliminate the effects of these barriers. Evergreen Health Services staff have also assisted the Buffalo schools by presen ng an hour-long sexual health seminar as part of the orienta on program for incoming freshmen. An hour is barely enough me to scratch the surface of such a complex topic, but the seminar provided an introduc on to a valuable source of informa on, resources, and suppor ve services which are available for the students. The new sex ed curriculum will address these topics in much greater depth during the school year. This is a me of incredible change in the Buffalo Public Schools' a tudes toward student sexuality. Un l the dust se les it's impossible to predict where these programs will be a year from now, let alone further into the future. But we appear to be moving in a good direc on, with schools acknowledging — and addressing — the fact that so many young people are already sexually ac ve or feeling an enormous amount of pressure to start. Expanding comprehensive sexual health educa on and in-school screening programs will give our students the informa on and skills they need to deal with this pressure effec vely, and this means good things for the students of Buffalo. Watch future issues of Pathways Magazine for updates on these exci ng programs! P
e that way, but that's how it is, and we have to adapt and change.