It's unusual for a conference on teen-age pregnancy to go five hours before discussing sex.

But it was all in the plan for speaker Michael Carrera.

"We've been here a couple hours, and we'll be here a couple more hours, but we haven't talked about sex much," said Carrera, a New York-based expert on adolescent sexuality. "Sex education is only one-seventh of our program."

Carrera described his teen pregnancy and risky behavior prevention program to a crowd of more than 430 people Tuesday at Modesto Centre Plaza. It was the opening of a two-day conference, Lessons for Lifeguards, sponsored by the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.

Carrera's program takes a comprehensive look at teen-age lives, not just their sex lives. He said the program's philosophy and components emphasize caring.

"Our most powerful tool is caring," he said. "You need to really believe in young people. It's not some formula. You have to believe young people are good."

Carrera said people should treat all children as though they are part of their own family. That means working as hard with, and wanting as much for, all teens as they would their own sons and daughters. A lot of agencies put up boundaries that tell children they care, but only so much, he said.

And, like in families, Carrera said it is an ongoing process. A couple of weeks or months of a program isn't enough to change a teen-ager's mind-set. Instead, it takes being there day in, day out, for years. He recommends that programs similar to his take a minimum of three to five years.

Carrera's model consists of seven main components -- two services and five activities:

• Counseling and mental health services.
• Medical health and dental services.
• Education and tutoring.
• Employment and career training.
• Individual sports and recreation.
• Self expression and art activities.
• Family life and sex education.

Taken individually, his approach may not seem unusual. The program is unorthodox, he said, because it puts all the components together under one roof.

"We're working with every dimension of who (teens) are," Carrera said. "It takes them on the path of going someplace. Now that's pregnancy prevention. Hope is the most powerful contraceptive going."

His model is being used in 48 different communities and 20 states.

The conference continues today with some 130 educators, health services and community members, exclusively from Stanislaus County. The agenda will be an inventory of existing programs and discussion of possibly launching a model locally.

"Everything he's talking about, we are perfectly capable of doing. Right now it's an open book," said Laura Tarlo, director of the REAL Project, a local pregnancy prevention program.

Tuesday's session attracted people from more than 20 counties and 30 agencies. Family Planning Director Samantha Phillips-Bland said the county would be willing to support communities interested in replicating Carrera's model.

Bee staff writer Marijke Rowland can be reached at 578-2284.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee