In an era of diminished funding for teen pregnancy prevention and sexual and reproductive health promotion programs, California Family Health Council's (CFHC) Peer Educator Program meets teens where they are: online and on their phones. Our multi-media peer educator model trains teens to reach thousands of their peers with information that is vital to this generation's sexual and reproductive health. CFHC's peer educators are recruited from California 'hot-spots' where teen pregnancy and STD rates are disproportionately high. They are trained in multi-media best practices for sexual health education, and the content they create is shared on TeenSource.org, CFHC's online hub for sexual and reproductive health education and resources. Hear peer educators share their authentic experiences, from becoming skilled digital storytellers, to the positive impact the program has had through reaching youth with vital information and on their own sexual and reproductive health knowledge and behaviors.

1. THE DIGITAL AGE OF
PEER EDUCATION:
HOW TO LEVERAGE NEW MEDIA
IN PEER EDUCATION PROGRAMS
April 28, 2015 #YTHLive

2. OUTLINE
• TeenSource + Digital Peer Educator Program overview
• Why the digital model for peer education makes sense
• New media best practices + youth-generated content
• Impact – peer educators + families
• Impact – TeenSource.org
• Key takeaways

4. OUR REACH
• Almost 900,000 TeenSource page views yearly; 500,000
unique users
• 90% of new website visits are on mobile devices
• TeenSource social media
• 8,543 Facebook Likes
• 3,089 Twitter followers
• 450 Instagram followers
• 3,846 unique subscribers to the Hookup
• 6,243 requests for clinics across 51 of 58 California counties
• CAP: 340,451 unique visitors since launch, 11,000+
mailers sent out

5. TEENSOURCE DIGITAL PEER EDUCATOR
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
• Recruit and hire 10 youth from California “hot spots”
• Trained on
• STDs
• Birth control
• Healthy relationships
• Teen rights
• New media best practices
• Assign to create content for TeenSource.org and social
media

6. TEENSOURCE DIGITAL PEER EDUCATORS –
CLASS OF 2015

7. WHY GO DIGITAL WITH PEER-DIRECTED SEX
EDUCATION?
• Decreased funding for pregnancy prevention programs
• Rising STD rates, racial/ethnic/geographical health
disparities w/ STDs and unintended pregnancies
• Need to meet youth where they are – online and on their
phones
• 95% of teens are online
• 93% of teens have regular access to a computer
• 81% of online teens use social media
• TeenSource.org reaches over 500,000 unique users annually

8. MOVING INTO THE AGE OF DIGITAL PEER
EDUCATION
Traditional Peer Educator Model Digital Peer Educator Model
Aims to empower youth Aims to empower youth
Reaches smaller # of youth – less cost
effective
Reaches 500,000 unique
TeenSource.org users/year (more
bang for our buck!)
Offline, community-based Online, aims to reach youth statewide
Primary goal: aims to impact peer
educators themselves (knowledge,
attitude, behavior changes)
Primary goal: create teen-friendly
content to engage + educate youth
statewide
Secondary impact: knowledge,
attitude, behavior changes among
peers receiving education
Secondary impact: knowledge,
attitude, behavior changes among
peer educators, their families +
communities

9. NEW MEDIA TRAININGS KEY TO CREATING
ENGAGING CONTENT
• Multi-media consultant @girardinl trained youth through
online monthly meetings
• Shared best practices on:
• Digital storytelling
• Shareable writing
• Shareable video
• Social media
• Public speaking/community presentations
• Immediately asked youth to utilize new skills through
assignments

10. SHAREABLE WRITING

11. SHAREABLE GRAPHICS

12. SHAREABLE VIDEOS + DIGITAL STORIES

13. SOCIAL MEDIA

14. PROGRAM IMPACT – PEER EDUCATORS
• The program positively impacted peer educators
• 100% of surveyed youth reported an increase in
knowledge
• Increased new media and professional development skills
• Increased knowledge in SRH
• 100% of surveyed youth reported positive behavior
change
• Increased communication about SRH w/ friends
• Increased communication about SRH w/ parents and family
• Increased comfort communicating about SRH w/ clinicians

15. PROGRAM IMPACT – EMPOWERING YOUTH
“I thought I knew all there was to it in the beginning but I learned a lot
more.”
“It’s made me a lot more willing to give advice to my friends since I
now know the facts instead of maybe, kinda having an idea about it.”
“[The program] makes me want to always be safe…I can talk to my
doctor now and be comfortable discussing these topics.”
“I feel that people at my school were able to trust me. People actually
and honestly believed in me for something.”
“My best experience has been talking with my parents. I finally am
able to talk to my dad now. I can say ‘sex’ and talk about what I’m
passionate about.”

16. PROGRAM IMPACT – EMPOWERING YOUTH

17. PROGRAM IMPACT – PEER EDUCATORS’
FAMILIES
• 100% of surveyed parents reported increased knowledge
on the importance of parent-teen communication
• 100% of surveyed parents reported increased
communication with their teen about sexual and
reproductive health

18. PROGRAM IMPACT – PEER EDUCATORS’
FAMILIES
• “[Sex] is a hard subject to bring up in my culture, but blogging and
everything my daughter is learning makes it easier for us.”
• “I learned I'm not in this alone and that there are many other parents who
share the same concerns. I know now there are resources available
where parents can seek advice for a better approach to communication.”
• “I know other parents who have rocky relationships with their kids and my
daughter gave me information to share with them to communicate with
their kids.”
• “…She said girls who were afraid to talk to their parents come to her. She
wants a career in communications and our relationship is even better.”

19. PROGRAM IMPACT – TEENSOURCE.ORG
• Since launch of program, TeenSource.org page views
have increased by 27%
• TeenSource.org unique users have increased by 33%
• TeenSource Facebook impressions have increased by
49%; page likes increased by over 400%
• TeenSource Twitter potential impressions have increased
by 63%; followers increased by 172%

20. KEY TAKEAWAYS
• Digital sex education is innovative, cost effective
• Digital peer education model creates relevant, engaging
content
• Content correlated with increased web and social media
engagement
• Peer educators gained knowledge, skills, and positively
influenced behavior

21. STAY CONNECTED!
Learn more @ TeenSource.org
@teensource
TeenSource.org
@teensourceorg
#YTHLive