What may be more shocking, however, is what they don’t know.

Teen counselors at the SHADE (Safe Health Awareness Done Easy) clinic, a new Stanislaus county teen-peer counseling service, will tell you that although many teenagers are experimenting with sex these days, they often don’t know the first thing about it – or how to protect themselves against pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

“The information has always been out there,” said Maria Pinedo, 18, a recent Modesto High School graduate. “But I think teens in our generation don’t want to accept the truth.”

She’s referring to the many myths and misconceptions many teenagers have about sex, misinformation which, unfortunately, all too often guides them in their sexual behaviors.

Teen counselors at the SHADE clinic want to change all that.

SHADE is one of five teen clinics in the state funded by the California Wellness Foundation. In addition to the Modesto clinic on 401 E. Paradise Road, there are also clinics in San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Diego and Orange County.

“Teens don’t want to talk to adults about sex,” Pinedo said. “They don’t want adults to know they’re sexually active.”

Because teens rely on one another for information about sex, the idea behind SHADE is to give them just that: other teens to talk to about sex and other matters they won’t readily share with adults.

“The community asked for that,” said program manager Belinda Rolicheck. “They wanted something that is teen-friendly.”

Six teens provide family planning services at SHADE: three female counselors and three male counselors. The majority of them were recruited right from Teen Life Challenge, a nonprofit organization also funded by the California Wellness Foundation, working to educate teenagers about sex and prevent teenage pregnancy.

Patients of the clinic typically come in to obtain condoms and pregnancy tests – but often they come in for more than that.

“They see that we know about the pressures of teens and can relate to how they feel, so they open up to us and talk to us,” said Miguel Trejo, 17, who also works at the clinic.

“Sometimes it’s hard with the environment we’re in,” he admitted. “I think our clients see us as professionals because we’re working at the clinic, but we just remember to be ourselves, use the language we use, street dialect, and try to assure them that we are one of them.”

In addition to their experience working for Teen Life Challenge, the teen counselors also received training in various aspects of family planning and have been certified by the California Wellness foundation as peer provider counselors and the California Family Health Council as family planning health care workers.

Teen counselor Lucy Jasso, 19, believes that SHADE patients see them more as a brother or sister.

“A patient has told me that it’s good we have this program because she wouldn’t be comfortable talking to an adult about what she was going through,” she said.

Jasso became involved with the clinic because she wanted to help out her community.

“I always like to help out other people and this was a great opportunity to do that,” she said.

The clinic is open every Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Normally, four teen counselors work from the clinic while another pair go out into the community to do outreach, seeking other teens who may need information and services from SHADE.

So far the counselors say the responses they’ve gotten from other teens have been very positive.

“Some of the younger ones might giggle,” said Pinedo, “but for the most part, kids usually say, ‘Wow, that great. I didn’t know there was something like that out there.”

She noted how programs like SHADE and Teen Life Challenge have really expanded her mind, showed her mistakes that other teens have made that she vows not to make herself.

“I see their mistakes and I realize that life is short, and the choices you make will affect you for the rest of your life,” she said. “I’m so happy I’m helping people make choices that will affect them forever.”

Reprinted by permission of the Turlock Journal.