HiTOPS Improves Dialogue On Sex Education For Teens

Candace Braun

The best way to reach teenagers facing difficult adolescent issues is to make them feel comfortable in a trusted environment, where role models are available to provide the education and care that they need. That's why HiTOPS, a health resource center for teens, is used by upwards of 1,000 youth in the Princeton community.

"We're trained to work with teenagers...Our whole building is pretty teenage-friendly," said Elizabeth Casparian, Ph.D., the director of education programs at HiTOPS, (Health-Interested Teens' Own Program on Sexuality).

HiTOPS has three basic educational programs and a full-service reproductive health care program, all designed just for teenagers. It is the only clinic in New Jersey whose focus is entirely on sex education and prevention for teens and young adults, said Ms. Casparian.

Located on Wiggins Street, HiTOPS has five clinicians testing youths for pregnancy, HIV, and other sexually transmitted diseases, as well as providing free condoms and birth control at approximately a quarter of the market price. Once inside the door, teens can talk with one of the seven trained educators at the facility and receive all the information they may need on how to have safe, protected sex.

But while the facility currently caters to teenagers and young adults up to the age of 26, two decades ago it was a birth center called Familyborn, where pregnant women would go seeking pre-natal care and mid-wife assistance. The HiTOPS clinic and education programs were established 18 years ago, soon after the employees at the center began to notice a need in the community that they were unable to address, with teens coming in and asking for pregnancy testing and birth control.

"We saw teens coming in for reproductive health care who had no knowledge of birth control at all," said Ms. Casparian.

When deciding how to run a sex education program for youths, the organization chose to develop a teen council.

"Oftentimes when adults tell teens not to do something, it becomes more compelling to do," said Ms. Casparian, adding that when a teen explains the negatives of a situation, using language and logic that another teenager can relate to, the method is much more effective.

The 18 high school seniors picked for the teen council each year undergo a rather intense training program of three hours each Tuesday night. Once trained, the group performs skits, and holds workshops and group discussions for teens at schools, community agencies, and those in the juvenile justice system, according to Ms. Casparian. Some of the topics they cover include abstinence, the prevention of STDs, acquaintance rape, and homophobia reduction.

School Programs

Today, HiTOPS also sends adult counselors into schools to supplement some health teachers' sex education courses.

"Most health teachers don't have specific experience with talking about sex with young people. A lot of them are happy to let us.... provide sexual health education to their classes," said Ms. Casparian.

The Princeton Regional School District has contracted with HiTOPS to provide its sex education program to all grades in John Witherspoon Middle School and Princeton High School, she added.

This coming fall, PHS will also have a for-credit, year-long course for juniors and seniors interested in becoming teen educators in sexuality. The program, Teen PEP New Jersey, is a peer education and sexual health promotion network for high schools across the state, 40 of which are now involved. The Princeton program combines HiTOPS with the Princeton Center for Leadership Training, and the Department of Health and Senior Services.

After training for a year, students are asked to pick a target population for whom to present skits and workshops.

"Peer education is the best way to get this information across and continue to get it across year after year," said Ms. Casparian. "Our programs have proven to be effective and to change attitudes."

Parent Education

HiTOPS has also begun to look toward programs that help parents communicate with their children about sex.

"We've been focusing heavily on providing more parent education programs. Schools cannot provide all the information on sexual health," said Ms. Casparian, adding that family values are a touchy issue that can't be easily taught in a regular classroom.

This year, HiTOPS has started a Wednesday drop-in program for adults, which covers a range of subjects including teen sex and the internet, bullying, how to talk to younger children about sexuality, and how to talk to kids about the effects of the media, and the sexual opinions and attitudes that are portrayed on television and in films.

"Most people don't grow up with parents who are comfortable enough to talk to them about sexuality, so they grow up not having that role model," said Ms. Casparian, adding that children are exposed to sex at a very young age in today's generation, when pop-ups and emails of pornography can find their way onto the child's computer screen without the parent's knowledge.

One of the most important things a teen health center can offer its participants is confidentiality, said Ms. Casparian. If a teenager is using the facility and parents call up asking any type of question regarding their child, HiTOPS is under no obligation to discuss anything unless the teen appears to be suicidal.

Teens are also asked how they would like to be contacted with test results, and offered the option to call the office rather than receive a call at home.

Youths are encouraged to talk to their parents about their sexual activity, however, and asked to consider how their parents would feel about them being sexually active.

Currently, the facility is working on providing an information session for teens prior to their first appointment. The session would be particularly helpful to females looking to go on birth control, as their questions can be answered prior to seeing a clinician.

Another part of making the teens feel comfortable is finding a way to make them feel as though having sex or not having sex is their own decision, said Ms. Casparian.

"We don't want to put people in the position of feeling judged; that's not why we're here. We encourage them to think about their decisions and give them the space to think about it while they're with us."

For more information on HiTOPS, stop by the office at 21 Wiggins Street, or call (609) 683-5155.