1. Adolescents Need Family Support
PARENTS
Why are you so important?
Families that provide love nurture and equally to their children ensure a healthier development for all children.
Parents must ensure a safe and secure environment for growth during the formative years of their children.
Yong people need to be taught basic values to live by. Parents have responsibility to provide these.
Parents and adults in families are role models. They must set the example for young people to emulate.
Providing information, education, counseling and clinical services helps young people to be MORE, not less responsible.
Information an skills will help them live up to their parents' expectations
and values; ignorance, fear and mistrust are the greatest enemies of
health and empowerment.
How can you help?
Encourage strong decision-making skills among adolescents by providing them with age-appropriate opportunities. This will not only enable them to make decisions but also experience the consequences of those decisions.
Accept and respect the independent identity and the right to privacy of the adolescents.
Demonstrate you love and respect for your children. It is important
that children recognize you love and know that you will support them.
2.School Environment Promotes Learning
TEACHERS
Why are you so important?
The most important determinant of success of an educational programme like Adolescence Education (AE) is the teacher.
Even when the elements of AE are integrated in the syllabi, the teacher has an important role in explaining the content effectively. Most of the elements of AE are very sensitive, delicate and value-laden. Interaction with students on these elements requires adopting a holistic approach.
Creating a supportive school environment is very important: the human factor is personified in the teacher.
As educators, you can contribute to development of their self esteem and positive boy image.
You can encourage adolescents to become sexually responsible adults by changing attitudes and developing rational behaviour among learners.
Teachers can promote links with health services to meet the health needs fo adolescents.
You can protect them from sexual exploitation or sexual abuse.
How can you help?
Let adolescents know that you respet and value them.
Encourage students to identify their personal, family, community, and religious values on sexual health and respect values that differ from their own.
Provide medically accurate information on reproductive and sexual
health, including information about contraception and disease prevention.
3. Community Leaders Can be Advocates
COMMUNITY LEADERS
Why are you so important?
Leaders mould community opinions.
Issues related to adolescent reproductive and sexual health require a supportive community environment.
Endorsement by leaders provides support to individuals and organizations working for the cause of adolescent health.
Community resources can be mobilized and optimally utilized if the
leaders are convinced of issues and concerns of adolescents.
How can you help? Create and environment for exchange of information
on ARSH by:
Encouraging open discussion an conversations on sexual and reproductive health in public spaces like panchayat meetings;
Talking of the importance of educating young people and how it can empower them to look after themselves and take care of their families.
Creating and distributing pamphlets on powerful messages related to the issue of adolescent health.
Joining efforts with other campaigns to show linkages between issues. For example, in a pulse polio drive add a massage or two about the health hazards that young pregnant women may face.
Requesting older members in the family to initiate conversations on adolescent issues during mealtimes and television viewing.
Mobilizing the media, including local and folk media, to produce in-depth news stories, articles and features on issues for young persons or a radio station to make an announcement on these issues particularly on days like the World AIDS Day, International Youth Day and Women's Day.
Recognizing that adolescents have right to health
information and services.
4. Service Providers
* Can Make a Difference in the Health Status of Adolescents
SERVICE PROVIDERS
Why are you so important?
You can bring about measurable improvement in the health status of the community.
As a respected and knowledgeable person in the community, you can influence others and mobilize support for adolescent health programmes.
There are limited facilities for adolescents at the Community Health Centre/Primary Health Centre. Information of these sevices is not available to adolescents.
Adolescents need a friendly environment to access freely these services.
Attitude of service providers is very important.
How can you help?
Overcome barriers to utilization of service by adolescents:
Find out how many adolescents access health services or approach health workers with their problems. Try to overcome the barriers.
Convince opinion leaders to support adolescent heath services. Inform the community of the existence of services.
Support organizations working with adolescents in integrating health as a component in their programmes.
Provide a wide array of services - preventive, curative and counseling.
Provide necessary support to girls if they complain of sexual abuse and harassment. Mobilize pachayat leaders.
Work with boys on issues related to violence, myths and gender stereotypes
regarding sex practices.
Make existing services friendly for adolescents:
Communicate with adolescents with warmth and understanding.
Make the timings and location convenient to adolescents.
* Personnel working with adolescents through
the Health, Education, WCD & Youth departments.
5. Peer Educators Can Become Change Makers
PEER EDUCATORS
Why are you so important?
Peers influence and help one another. You can bring about change in an adolescent's life by enhancing knowledge and modifying beliefs, attitudes, behaviour and skills at an individual level.
You can also effect change at the societal level by modifying norms and stimulating collective action leading to changes is programmes and policies.
You can be a good motivator and role model for young people as you have credibility with them.
Young people prefer Peer Educators to adult facilitators and find
them more accessible. You can be a close and trusted person and act
as a bridge between adolescents and adults.
How can you help?
Overcome barriers to utilization of service by adolescents:
Make young people aware of the issues associated with unhealthy behaviour through proper education.
Support events, media campaigns and organize other young people to work on critical health issues.
Establish an enabling environment by providing information on certain contemporary issues related to culturally sensitive topics. Being a part of the community, this will avoid suspicions that sometimes arise from interventions by external persons.
Build local linkages. Provide links to various services by referring peers to professional help.
Form network to encourage, support and promote healthy living.
Be open to expanding self-awareness. Update yourself with latest information through training and skill building to gain the confidence of your peer group and respect from community members.
Become advocates to influence policy by sensitizing decisions makers to the needs of young people.
Be sensitive to the needs of others.
Be creative and not-judgmental.
