Gilbert Ramos, 17, knows that sex can be a sensitive subject for teen-agers.

It can be tough for young people to confide in adults about having sex, he said. It can be even tougher for teens to ask adults about things like preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

So, Ramos and five other teens now counsel others of the same age about such issues. They are part of a new program called Safe Health Awareness Done Easy, or SHADE, run by the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency.

The young counselors field questions twice a week at the Paradise Medical Office in west Modesto. They are trained to discuss issues such as abstinence, birth control, pregnancy testing and sexually transmitted diseases.

"They (teen-agers) feel comfortable talking to people their own age," said Ramos, who will be a senior at Modesto High School in the fall.

This counseling adds to the other services available at the medical office, which opened last month. There, doctors and nurses care for people of all ages and give reproductive health exams and pregnancy tests, among other things.

County health officials got the idea for the teen program two years ago when they heard of peer counseling efforts in other parts of the state, including San Diego and Orange counties. Clinics in these places attracted so many teens that organizers there eventually offered the special counseling five days a week.

Officials thought a similar program could help decrease teen pregnancies here. In 2000, the latest year for which statistics are available, there were 54.4 births per 1,000 teen girls in Stanislaus County, up from 51.8 in 1999.

Another statistic officials hope to change: Seven of 10 sexually active teens in Stanislaus County have chlamydia, said Belinda Rolicheck, who manages the teen program.

"What we're trying to do is bring those numbers down," she said.

Health officials here got groups of teens together and found that young people liked the peer counseling idea. And, in previous surveys, adults said family planning services for young people were particularly needed in west Modesto.

Armed with this information, the Health Services Agency obtained a $75,000 grant from the California Wellness Foundation to run the program for one year.

Young people volunteered to be counselors and attended once-a-week training sessions for several months.

As for birth control, "We always tell them that abstinence is the only 100 percent effective way," said Kristina McKibben, 17, who will be a senior at Modesto High in the fall.

Teens also learned counseling techniques, like how to make eye contact to show that they are listening.

They then took oral and written exams in Sacramento, the same tests that adults take when training for jobs as county health workers.

Young counselors easier to approach

Teens began counseling on June 1. Before each session at the clinic, they transform the waiting room into a space that they feel is more welcoming to young men and women. Bright-colored, inflatable arm chairs are brought in. Rolling Stone and Seventeen magazines are fanned out on coffee tables.

Sometimes, the teens walk through neighborhoods and parks, handing out fliers to tell people about the counseling service.

So far, about 15 teens have come in for help. Some want condoms or tests for sexually transmitted diseases.

Others simply want to know how the clinic works. Parental permission is not required for people 13 and older. Condoms are free, as are other types of birth control, such as birth control pills and Depo-Provera, an injectable birth control drug. Reproductive health exams, pregnancy tests and tests for sexually transmitted diseases are also free.

Rolicheck, the program coordinator, said she knows the idea of teens talking to teens about sex may raise questions.

"It's a very different approach," she said. "But these teens are very well-trained."

Emma Pinedo said she likes the idea. Pinedo runs Teen Life Challenge, an organization dedicated to preventing teen pregnancies.

Pinedo said that simple things that teens have in common, like the way they dress or the way they speak with one another, can help make them feel comfortable bringing up sensitive issues with each other.

"What we need to realize is that teens are more apt to be open with other teens," she said. "They're more willing to share."

The SHADE clinic is inside the Stanislaus County Health Services Agency's Paradise Medical Office in the Save Mart shopping center, 401 Paradise Road, Modesto. Clinic hours are 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and 11 a.m to 3 p.m. Saturdays. Drop-ins are welcome, or appointments can be made. For more information or to make an appointment, call 558-4000.

Bee staff writer Kerry McCray can be reached at 578-2358 or kmccray@modbee.com.

Reprinted by permission of Modesto Bee.