Teens prepare abstinence assemblies for Nevada schools

Role playing and creative skits are just a couple of ways to reach Nevada's youth on the benefits of sexual abstinence.

At least that's the approach the Governors Youth Advisory Council is taking.

The council, composed of members ranging in age from 16 to 20, has created an "Abstinence Assemblies" program targeting the state's fifth- and sixth-grade students.

Council members use role playing to inform youth on how to reject sexual advances, whether it's from a partner in a relationship, a date or peer pressure.

The 50-minute script, created by the teens, is based on statistics as well as personal experience. In the skit, council members explain the high cost of raising a baby and the health risks teen mothers face.

"Hopefully we can influence them and guide them in the right direction," said council member Jennifer Lopez, a 16-year-old who attends Cimarron-Memorial High School.

Gov. Bob Miller established the council in 1996 as a way to target Nevada's high teen pregnancy rate. Ten Nevada youths, ranging in background, meet four times a year to discuss issues Nevada teens face and suggest solutions. Nevada ranks second in the nation for its high teen birth rate.

Council member Jason Lopez is 20 years old, married and has a 3-year-old son.

"All through my senior year I had a kid. So I can let people know how tough it is," he said. "Hopefully we will get their attention since they're just a step away."

"While your friends are going to movies, you'll be home changing dirty diapers," said Tyson Burton from Sparks, adding that if he were a dad, he would be working to support the child rather than going to college.

The members use recent results from a two-year survey conducted by the state Department of Education which states 53 percent of ninth to 12th graders are not having sex.

"More than half the high school kids in Nevada have not had sex, about 35,000 of them. It's OK to say no. Be like a broken record. State your decision and repeat it over and over."

The council has been working on the script for the past year and hopes to begin promoting it to the schools this fall.

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