an Francisco Chronicle Examines Use Of Technology For Sex Education

The San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday examined the use of technology by educators and public health professionals to provide sex education to teenagers. The "push" to use technology to communicate with teenagers about sex follows a CDC report that found that the teenage birth rate increased for the first time in 15 years in 2006, the Chronicle reports.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 90% of people ages 12 to 17 use the Internet, and more than 60% of the group use it daily. A report by Nielsen found that 35% of children ages eight to 12 own cell phones and that 20% use text messaging. In response, educators and health professionals are using video podcasts that speak frankly about sex, as well as computer games and text messages to educate teenagers about safer sex, pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections and sexuality.

Oakland, Calif.-based Internet Sexuality Information Services on Tuesday and Wednesday held the inaugural SexTech Conference, which examined how sex education messages could be disseminated using the Internet, mobile technology and video game tools. ISIS in June plans to partner with the University of Colorado and Columbia University to test an HIV/AIDS awareness project on MySpace for people ages 14 to 18. Deb Levine, executive director of ISIS, said, "The youth are using the next new [technologies]. They're early adopters ... They're looking for information on sex online and on their cell phones, so let's make it available to them in a legitimate way."

The San Francisco Department of Public Health uses a text messaging service to answer commonly asked questions, such as what to do if a condom breaks. Jeffrey Klausner, director of San Francisco's STD prevention and control services section, said that there are "important issues of privacy" regarding sex "that technology can overcome." He added, "People can access information privately and remain anonymous."

According to the Chronicle, some educators and public health advocates say that they feel they constantly are playing "catch-up" to new technologies and that they are challenged by acquiring and keeping funding for sex education projects. "There's still nothing better than high-quality, comprehensive sex education in school, but with abstinence-only programs, the ball is getting dropped and the Internet is able to pick it up," William Neville, manager of marketing and new media for Advocates for Youth, said (Lee, San Francisco Chronicle, 1/24).