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True You Maryland
Celebrating AANHPI Month

Celebrating AANHPI Month

Cultural Experiences, Shared Identities, and Everything, Everywhere, All At Once By April “Kayuri” Lat, MS MPP By Patricia Natalie, MA May 28, 2024Check out this video blog post, where April and Patricia discuss their shared identities as Southeast Asians, their...

The Not-So-Top-Secret Mission to Improve Adolescent Health Outcomes

The Not-So-Top-Secret Mission to Improve Adolescent Health Outcomes

Dive deep into county-level data to identify factors contributing to the sexual and reproductive health outcomes of young people in your community! By Deborah Chilcoat, MEd May 16, 2024Here is your mission, should you choose to accept it: Dive deep into county-level...

Save the Date! May Is Sex Ed for All Month!

Save the Date! May Is Sex Ed for All Month!

Each May since 2019, Sex Ed for All Month is an opportunity to voice our shared commitment to a world where all young people get equitable access to the education and care they deserve. April 18, 2024The seasons are changing, and May will be here before you know it....

Sex Education Is Essential (Sex Ed for All Talking Points)

Sex Education Is Essential (Sex Ed for All Talking Points)

Together, by advocating in our communities, we can ensure Sex Ed for All.April 16, 2024As April starts to wind down, and as we look ahead to the start of May on the horizon, we wanted to take a moment to share with you the history behind May as Sex Ed for All Month....

Stay in the Loop with our Shareable National Observances Calendar

Stay in the Loop with our Shareable National Observances Calendar

Stay up to date with our 2024 adolescent health national observances Google calendar!By Mariah CowsertJanuary 25, 2024When I first started working at Healthy Teen Network—now 3 years ago, almost to the day!—and started creating content for our social media channels, I...

How Youth-Friendly is Your Clinic?

How Youth-Friendly is Your Clinic?

 On a scale from mid to stellar, how would the youth you serve rate your clinic's youth-friendliness? By Allison Tomai Felsen August 17, 2023Have you ever walked into a health care facility and felt totally overwhelmed? Or been unsure how to talk to your health care...

Let’s Talk Inclusivity… in Birth Control!

Let’s Talk Inclusivity… in Birth Control!

We need to be mindful of our language to ensure that we’re reaching young people of all genders.By Vanessa GeffrardJuly 13, 2023As health educators, it’s likely that we’ll teach a lesson, or answer questions about, birth control for a classroom full of curious young...

Give Your Contraceptive Lessons a Refresh

Give Your Contraceptive Lessons a Refresh

Support your students to feel informed and in control of their health!By Allison Tomai Felsen June 23, 2023As part of its efforts to bring the very best sexual health education to Maryland youth,  True You Maryland, a program of the Maryland Department of Health, has...

Defend LGBTQ+ Rights by Creating Inclusive Learning Spaces

Defend LGBTQ+ Rights by Creating Inclusive Learning Spaces

Learn more—and get resources—about how to create affirming spaces for your students.By Allison Tomai Felsen June 15, 2023The onslaught of attacks on the basic human right for people to exist just continues to be exhausting. Banning books, censoring curricula, banning...

New Year, Same WHY

New Year, Same WHY

Our Thoughts on Why Sex Ed Matters   By Sam AkersFebruary 23, 2023“What do you do?” I was asked by my family when I went home... “Well, I work in sex ed!” *Brace for impact* “and I LOVE what I do, because it matters.” Going home for the holidays can bring...

Supporting Youth Safety and Wellness in Sex Ed

Supporting Youth Safety and Wellness in Sex Ed

Resources and information from a recent True You Maryland training to help support the mental health and safety of your students.By Allison Tomai Felsen January 5, 2023Talking about sexuality in the classroom can be awkward! We’ve all been there. But there’s a...

Parents and Youth Agree on Sex Ed for All

Parents and Youth Agree on Sex Ed for All

Young people have a right to quality, affirming sex education...and regardless of political affiliation, parents and young people agreeBy Mariah CowsertMay 1, 2021Aworld where all young people lead healthy and fulfilling lives...that’s the dream, right? And it’s not...

Get Ready for Our Staff Sessions at #HealthyTeen22

Get Ready for Our Staff Sessions at #HealthyTeen22

This is only a sneak peak of our incredible line-up of some of our conference sessions; you’ll just have to join us in Miami for #HealthyTeen22 to get the full experience! September 23, 2022We’re counting down the days to #HealthyTeen22 in Miami. While we may not be...

Connecting Rural Youth to Sexual and Reproductive Health

Connecting Rural Youth to Sexual and Reproductive Health

When looking at sexual and reproductive health access across America, geography matters. And we see rural communities facing bigger gaps in access to services and comprehensive sex education. By Mackenzie Piper, MPH, CHES August 18, 2022True You Maryland brings...

Don’t Feed the Trolls

Don’t Feed the Trolls

But if you feel you have to respond, be polite and stick to the facts.By Allison Tomai Felsen August 4, 2022Ever heard the expression “don’t feed the trolls?” Maybe it was in a news article about the rise of clickbait posting and algorithms designed to show us content...

Navigating Sexuality + Faith for Better Sex Ed

Navigating Sexuality + Faith for Better Sex Ed

Religion and faith does play a role in shaping our views on sex and sexuality. By Allison Tomai Felsen July 14, 2022You might be thinking the same thing that I was when I first read the title and description to our recent training series—Demystifying Sexual Taboos:...

Sex Ed? On TikTok?

Sex Ed? On TikTok?

It's more likely than you think.By Sam AkersMay 20, 2022Kids these days are all about TikTok, and I’ll admit it, I’m into it too! From watching morning routines to dances to Lizzo’s newest song, I love a good scroll. Social media provides a platform where people can...

Would you like FRIES with that?

Would you like FRIES with that?

Sexting and digital consent are important topics to discuss with young peopleBy Allison Tomai Felsen February 17, 2022A study published in 2018 by JAMA Pediatrics found that sexting is becoming a more common practice among youth: about 1 in 7 adolescents reported that...

Essential Tips You Need to Teach LGBTQ+-Inclusive Sex Ed

Essential Tips You Need to Teach LGBTQ+-Inclusive Sex Ed

All students deserve to learn in an inclusive and affirming space.By Allison Tomai Felsen December 9, 2021Did you know that out of the 29 states that require sex ed to be taught in school, only 17 states require the inclusion of LGBTQ+ topics? GLSEN’s National School...

To be or not to be (on camera)?  That is the question….

To be or not to be (on camera)? That is the question….

Quick tips to build motivation to turn the camera on.By Valerie Sedivy, PhD July 15, 2021By far, the most common challenge we hear from facilitators working in virtual settings is that young people do not want to be on camera. There are so many reasons why this might...

GSAs Are Where LGBTQ+ Youth & Allies Come Together

GSAs Are Where LGBTQ+ Youth & Allies Come Together

With more youth feeling free to live their authentic sexualities and build relationships that reflect that, it’s up to educators and youth-supporting professionals to keep up momentum for supporting LGBTQ+ young people in schoolsBy Mariah CowsertJune 30, 2021Growing...

I’m Just a Bill: The Untold Story

I’m Just a Bill: The Untold Story

I’m Just a Bill covers how a legislative bill makes its way to law. As a public policy advocacy practitioner for over 30 years, let me just say that how a bill becomes a law is more complicated than the short film conveys.  By Bob Reeg, MPA, CVA June 3, 2021The I’m...

Lemonade Musings: Seeing Youths’ Strengths

Lemonade Musings: Seeing Youths’ Strengths

I have never liked the phrase, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” I share this so what I write will not be dismissed as musings of a bubbly-happy-go-lucky-always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life-optimist.  By Lisa Schelbe, PhD, MSW May 27, 2021We must use a...

Adolescents & the COVID-19 Vaccine

Adolescents & the COVID-19 Vaccine

Well visits are a good venue for routine and COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as a variety of important screenings and assessmentsMay 19, 2021With the decline in routine pediatric immunizations and well-child visits during the COVID-19 pandemic, Healthy Teen Network...

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