| Working with Youth Online |
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Transitions: The Rights. Respect. Responsibility.® Campaign This Transitions is also available in [PDF] format. By Jesse Gilliam, Program Associate, LGBT Initiatives, Advocates for Youth Adena, a young bisexual woman from New Jersey, is one of 15 youth who serves as an online peer educator for InsideOUT, the online peer education program for Youth Resource, Advocates for Youth's Web site for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning (GLBTQ) youth. Every morning, she and her colleagues, peer educators on Advocates' three current Internet intervention sites, open their inboxes and read E-mail from young people across the country who are looking for support, resources, and information. E-mail comes from young people who have visited InsideOUT and read the personal stories of the online peer educators. Youth write with questions such as "Where can I find a youth support group in my area?" "How can I start an activist group in my high school for GLBTQ youth?" "Where can I find sexual health information for Latinas?" The peer educators answer youth's questions and provide research, information, links to pertinent and useful Web sites, and materials developed by Advocates for Youth. Online peer educators also give a personal touch that lets young people know they are not alone. Online peer educators form the heart of Advocates for Youth's online interventions programs. They serve on www.youthresource.com, www.mysistahs.org, and www.ambientejoven.org. Besides answering youth's questions about issues they face, online peer educators also mobilize young people, develop monthly features, and refer youth to sites and services. Advocates' peer educators are a diverse group—geographically, ethnically, and across gender and sexual orientation—with experience working on sexual health issues. Chosen through a careful, online application process, they come together each year for several days of training on working with young people over the Internet, addressing sexual health issues, and working together to produce a relevant and current Web site. Online peer educators differ from "real life" peer educators because they work in a virtual world with young people who may never walk through the door of a student health center or seek a "real world" support group. Online peer educators receive E-mail in which youth ask questions they may have asked no one else. The online peer educators feel a responsibility to provide youth with resources and information that will help them become comfortable with themselves and the sexual health issues in their lives. Advocates' several sites are tailored for specific populations. My Sistahs, a Web site for young women of color, takes a holistic approach to HIV education and prevention. Young visitors will build an online community around activism, culture, health, relationships, style, and other issues that affect their sexual and reproductive health. Youth Resource provides support, information, resources, and message boards directed towards the issues of specific communities, including young gay men, lesbian and bisexual women, transgender youth, and GLBTQ youth of color. Ambiente Joven provides community and support for GLBTQ youth of Latino background and culture, whether the youth's first language is Spanish or English. InsideOUT online peer educator, Sean Lloyd, a young gay man from Arkansas, says it best. "It brings me great joy when I can help someone with a problem or educate them on something they didn't know." Invite young people in your area to log on to Advocates' sites—online peer educators are here to help! Next Chapter: International Youth Leadership Transitions (ISSN 1097-1254) © 2001, is a quarterly publication of Advocates for Youth—Helping young people make safe and responsible decisions about sex. For permission to reprint, contact Transitions' editor at 202.419.3420. |