Every year, the high school juniors attend family life classes to educate students on fundamental subjects. The Teen Prevention Education Program (Teen PEP) is a program centered around sexuality education. However, it’s not only about sexuality; students are trained in leadership as well. They teach grades six through twelve and use fun and memorable skits to teach lessons and bring awareness to other important subjects. They talk about everything from puberty to sexual assault and sexual harassment.
“The goal of Teen PEP is to educate people on… crucial adolescent topics as well as to give them the facts and eradicate the myths,” said Veronica Capone, one of the great physical education teachers at Tenafly High School. Capone shows the Teen PEP students examples of workshops, and if students need advice, she is always there to help. However, the students are very independent workers, and the workshops are completely student-driven.
Through the program, 6th-graders are taught about puberty, 7th-graders get gender and sexuality workshops, 8th-graders learn about HIV and AIDS, 9th-grade students are taught about contraception, 10th-graders hear about dating violence, 11th-graders are taught about STIs, and 12th-graders are exposed to the dangers of sexual assault. Furthermore, there is a sexual harassment workshop and a section on the rocks workshop, which deals with drugs and alcohol.
“Make sure you know exactly why you want to join,” Iscah Cheah (’25), a dedicated advisory board member, said. He also noted the importance of commitment to the program: “You also need to remember the commitment that this is. Try to find a goal in Teen PEP, and make a difference. For me, I wanted to educate younger people, and I just wanted to spread awareness. I want to be part of a safe place where people can talk about sensitive topics that are embarrassing or uncomfortable,” she said. Ultimately, Teen PEP is a safe place for anyone and everyone; it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do. It’s a safe place where anybody can come ask questions and have important conversations and discussions.
In essence, people don’t realize how deep Teen PEP goes with the topics. The students don’t just do superficial research; they delve into the topics that they do the workshops on. The students that are in Teen PEP are knowledgeable, committed, and eager to help others. Even still, the students and teachers don’t know everything about each topic, so it’s a learning process for everyone.
