Is based on the belief that young teens should postpone sexual involvement. Teen Leaders, together with a classroom facilitator, present 5 classroom sessions to middle school students. Teen Leaders are recruited from local high schools, and are extensively trained by Deschutes County Health Department and Department of Human Services staff.

The interactive sessions focus on 3 main objectives:

Inform young teens about social and peer pressures to become sexually involved
Provide information about the consequences of early sexual involvement
Model skills which will help young teens say “NO” to sexual involvement

The STARS Program…
Is presented to middle school students in an effort to help them develop skills to resist peer and social pressures to become sexually involved. Teen Leaders serve as powerful positive role models to the younger teens; their presentation of this abstinence-based curriculum helps the younger teens recognize the importance of postponing sexual involvement. Through interactive activities, the middle school students learn to identify the risks of early sexual involvement, recognize social and peer pressures, and develop assertiveness skills.

The STARS Program…
Helps young teens:

Identify the risks and consequences of early sexual involvement
Become aware of the social pressures teens face to become sexually involved
Recognize peer pressure and understand the importance of setting personal limits
Learn how to deal with pressure situations and assertively say “no” to unwanted pressure, and
Understand their rights within relationships.

The STARS Program…
Is an educational program offered by Deschutes County Health Department. It is part of a multi-faceted effort to meet the Deschutes County Benchmark initiative of reducing teen pregnancy. The STARS program is based on the Postponing Sexual Involvement (PSI) curriculum developed in 1983 by Dr. Marion Howard of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The STARS program does not provide information on methods of contraception or other reproductive health issues. The program is designed to be one component of a comprehensive human sexuality / reproductive health curricula.