FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: October 31, 2006

Contact:

Brittany Baeumel

Health Education Specialist

(208) 415-5143

Cynthia Taggart

Public Information Officer

(208) 415-5108

Released by: Jeanne Bock, Director

Teens Mentor Teens in Abstinence

Panhandle Health District will train teen mentors in the Peers Encouraging Abstinent Kids (PEAK) program starting Nov. 10.

PEAK is a teen abstinence program that started in Bonners Ferry in 1996, after the state’s teen pregnancy rate for teens 15-17 years old hit 32.9 per 1,000 in 1995. After the program had operated for eight years, the state’s teen pregnancy rate in the 15-17 age group dropped to 20.9 per 1,000.

Built on the premise that teens are more comfortable discussing sex with someone their own age, PEAK relies on high school students to deliver its abstinence-based message to junior high students. Older teens learn to help younger teens understand the risks of early sexual involvement. They share with younger students coping strategies to resist peer and social pressure to have sex and teach them how to say no.

PEAK’s tools work for any risky behavior, including alcohol and tobacco use.

After high school students complete the training, they work in middle school health classes for one hour each week for six weeks under the supervision of middle school instructors. Last year, 235 high school mentors presented the PEAK curriculum to 1,700 North Idaho students.

This year, Coeur d’Alene High and Lake City High mentors will train at the Panhandle Health District, 8500 N. Atlas Rd. in Hayden, Nov. 10, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Post Falls High mentors will train at Post Falls High Nov. 17 from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

PEAK is partly funded by Gov. Risch’s Generation of the Child Community Collaboration Contracts and by the Idaho Governor’s Council on Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.

For more information about teen pregnancy prevention or the PEAK program, call Brittany Baeumel at PHD at 415-5143, the Idaho Care Line at 2-1-1 or visit online www.idahoteenpregnancy.com.