Of Pima County's larger school districts, Tucson, Sunnyside, Flowing Wells, Marana and Amphitheater unified school districts start teaching aspects of sex education, such as social health and gender identification, beginning in grade school. The five districts offer parents the option of excluding their children from the lessons. Hendricks said of school-taught sex education. Angelini maintains the responsibility for educating youngsters about sex should be shared by many. Marana, TUSD and Sunnyside districts as well as some local organizations work to prevent teen pregnancies through peer panels that bring young parents into schools to explain the realities of parenting.
Organizers say the panels are much more effective than a straight lecture by an adult.
Monica Nitzsche, Sunnyside's Teenage Parent Program coordinator, refers to the panels as fantasy versus reality. The teens erase the myths about parenthood by telling other young adults firsthand what it is truly like to have a child. Through humorous skits and talks, local students preach their message of waiting until marriage to have sex. This fall, Planned Parenthood expects to start a prevention program designed to reduce sexual risk-taking among teens. Reducing the Risk encourages abstinence, but stresses using contraception if teens are going to have sex.