Syphilis, Gonorrhea and Chlamydia are sexually-transmitted diseases commonly found in New York City's adult population. Recently, however, the city has seen an alarming growth in the number of teenagers -- some as young as 13 years old -- with these diseases. Figures released by the United Hospital Fund, an organization that tracks health-related statistics in the city, showed that more than 4,250 adolescents ages 13-21 had contracted one of these diseases in the first ten months of the year 2000.

Diana Murrain, a Public Health Educator in the Health Department's Education, Outreach and Training Unit in Manhattan, is among a team of Public Health Educators who are on a mission to find ways to reach young people before it is too late. These sexually-transmitted diseases are precursors to HIV/AIDS infection.

Negotiators for the members in the Housing Division, whose old contract expired March 31, 2000, gave tentative approval to terms similar to those accepted by the Citywide Division at a bargaining session held Dec. 20 at Local 237 headquarters in Manhattan. The new contract would cover the period from April 1, 2000, to June 30, 2002.

"The focus has to be on prevention and that means education," said Murrain, whose team is promoting a new sexual health prevention program in schools to help combat the problem in high-risk neighborhoods. As liaison between the Department of Health and the city's community-based organizations Murrain spends most of her time promoting city health services at health fairs and sharing information and resources on AIDS counseling, testing and referrals with community groups and clinics. Her team developed the program in October 2001 after she was asked by school health to lead a series of lectures and presentations on Sexually-Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and prevention.

While sex education is a political hot potato in the New York City Board of Education, Murrain said she got the sexual health prevention program into the school system by convincing the principal and parents at an introductory PTA meeting that she was not interested in teaching sex education.

Murrain, a Local 237 member since 1992, added: "Everyone is afraid of sex education. But that's not what this program is about. I told them [the PTA]: "If you have sex, these are the bad things that can happen to you. It is none of my business if the kids are having sex. I am not dealing with the decision to have sex. I am talking about giving them the prevention tools they need to make informed decisions."

Murrain and her colleague Alexis Thompson work with the school nurse, and the Board of Education health teacher to set up five sessions for each grade level to teach students about STDs, including HIV and AIDS.

"What makes this program unique is that we are teaching entire schools, grade by grade. We go from STD 101 right up to HIV," Murrain added. "We explain to them how you get it, how it can be prevented, how it is treated and how they can take care of themselves."

Thompson, a Public Educator with the Health Department's Bureau of STD Control, said they use STD information to play games such as Jeopardy to make the session more enjoyable for students. "We ask them questions about STD. The answers come from the information we gave them in the previous sessions or information they will get in upcoming sessions." They also use slides and videos.

In the short time that the program has been in existence the team has been into more than 20 schools in Manhattan. "What has helped us," Murrain continued, "is that somewhere along the line the Board of Education mandated that schools must have six sessions of sexual health education, so schools are now looking for people to bring in to do those classes."

Mark Naftel, a long-time member of Local 237, took a slightly different approach for delivering the same message to students in the Bronx. The Public Health Educator targeted 45 middle schools with a one-shot session aimed at giving students the information they need to make decisions prior to engaging in sexual activity. He also developed STD prevention classes for residents in city prisons, shelters and senior citizen homes.

The volatility of the issue in many Bronx districts, however, has made it difficult for Mark to reach as many students as he had hoped. As a result, Naftel said he is constantly on the telephone discussing the value of his program with school administrators. So far, he has given his lesson on STD prevention in 12 schools.

"My focus is on teaching kids not only about how they can protect themselves, but also how to avoid sexual activity by setting sexual limits for themselves," Naftel explained. "Peer pressure," he added, is often behind a kid's decision to engage in sex. So Naftel uses videos to show his class how to communicate effectively with other people, their boyfriends and girlfriends. He tell them what they can do and say to set sexual limits on their relationships. The program is flexible enough that he is able to tailor it to the philosophy of school administrators and the experience of the young people in the class.

"The question for many young people is how to decide when you are going to be sexually active. They need to know how to say no without feeling intimidated or pressured," Naftel continued. "Since I will likely see these students only the one time, I have to make sure that the program makes an immediate impact on these kids so that they are able to use the new skill they've learned when they are faced with the dilemma."

The solution, Naftel determined, is engaging the students in story telling and sharing experiences. "We use slides, and the approach that: 'If I do A, B will happen'. Obviously the frequency of the message and the approach used to deliver the message makes a difference," Naftel added.

To that end, Naftel and his team created a "Peer Educator" program that involves training high school students as counselors who can re-enforce the message, and provide support and encouragement to each other. "Let's face it, kids will listen to each other before they will listen to an adult, and they share secrets. Give them the tools and they will take care of each other."

Other public health educators involved in the effort include: Angel Molina, Grace Pabarue, Alana Boutelle-Carnegie and Milicent Freeman, Assistant Director, Training and Education.