Starting early teaching basics of sex ed
Brown medical students guiding R.I. 7th-graders
PROVIDENCE — Over the past decade, hundreds of firstand second-year students at Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School have brought thoughtful sexual education curriculum to seventh-grade students at Calcutt Middle School in Central Falls.
The program was launched in 2014, when Central Falls had a teen pregnancy rate three times that of the state. Since then, Brown medical students have fostered connections with the community and helped to bring those rates down.
Alexa Steckler is a secondyear medical student and current president of the sexual education program, where she is responsible for keeping the curriculum up to date and drawing on research to tailor to the middle schoolers’ best needs.
Q. What is “Sex Ed by Brown Med” and how was it started?
Steckler: “Sex Ed by Brown Med” started in 2014. It was born out of this medical student’s desire to address what was then one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in Rhode Island. When it began, Dr. Susanna Magee, who’s a clinical professor of family medicine at Brown and is now our faculty adviser, gave a lecture at the med school on teen pregnancy. She was approached by five medical students afterward who had this idea of launching a sex ed program in Central Falls to try and begin to address this high pregnancy rate. Their idea for an entirely medical studentrun program sort of laid the foundation for the next decade of sex ed, a program where we now teach about 160-180 middle schoolers each year. I think the longevity of this program really is a testament to that initial passion and dedication of Brown med students and the strong partnership we have with the Central Falls School District.
Q. Why do you think the program is important?
A. I think that we have a unique opportunity to strengthen the initial distribution of information to seventh-graders before they reach the age where these are really becoming critical decisions that they have to make. Sexual health is just one component of health and wellbeing. As a future physician, that’s something that I really feel comes through, whether working in Calcutt Middle School or when I’m seeing patients in the clinic. I think historically, sexual health has kind of been removed from the conversation and considered as a taboo. The care that we’re giving patients, regardless of their age, should include a sexual health conversation.
Q. What do the lessons look like?
A. We teach eight hourlong lessons over the course of the year. The topics we teach are intro to sex ed, reproductive anatomy, puberty, gender identity and sexual orientation, pregnancy and sexual decision making, birth control, healthy relationships and sexual violence, and sexually transmitted infections.
Q. Has the curriculum changed over the years?
A. These topics have kind of been the mold over the last 10 years. I think keeping it relevant and keeping it as close to what is top of mind for these students is really important. Meeting students at their level of understanding and connecting with them over their interests has proven more effective than ignoring or chastising their usage of social media, for example.
We build in games and scenarios that are easier for the students to understand and often encourage a little bit of friendly competition to test their recall of past lessons. We emphasize that abstinence is the only 100 percent effective method for preventing pregnancy. But we also recognize that students are heading off to high school soon, where they will reach the legal age of consent, which is 16 in Rhode Island. They need to have these tools to make informed choices later on.
Q. Have you seen any impacts or changes in the Central Falls community since the introduction of the program?
A. According to state data, teen pregnancy rates in Central Falls have declined by 44 percent, which is pretty remarkable. Just from 2011 to 2015, Central Falls experienced 236 births to teens, which is a rate of 64.7 per 1,000 young women. [From 2016-2020, that number decreased to 133 births, or a birth rate of 36.1 per 1,000 young women.]
These lower rates cannot yet be directly tied the sex ed program. The opening of the Blackstone Valley Community Health Care Center in Central Falls has also been a really big win in terms of providing high schoolers free medical care, including confidential birth control.
Q. Do you foresee the program expanding to other middle schools around the state?
A. We’ve talked about it. We also talked about possibly adding a refresher course for Central
Falls high schoolers to revisit the lessons that they learned a few years ago in seventh grade. We’ve been in touch with a few other school districts in Rhode Island and are considering expanding.
Q. What makes “Sex Ed by Brown Med” stand out from typical sex ed curriculum?
A. Sex ed is not a novel concept. Our parents and grandparents had some form of sex ed. But having high quality, comprehensive sex ed in an environment where students are able to have open dialogue and feel safe sharing their thoughts remains far from the norm even in 2024 and is something that we aim to change.
A. I think back on my experience, and I was taught in a room with rambunctious, not very mature middle schoolers. I think that sort of awkwardness won out in many ways. I kind of just got through it and didn’t want to talk about it again. What we’re doing with “Sex Ed by Brown Med” is really including students in the conversation. We’re making sex ed more palatable for them. And, you know, making it more fun, if you can believe it. It sounds like an oxymoron saying we’re making sex ed fun. But that’s been my experience and how the students seem to respond to it best.