The End of a Chapter: Catapult/Global Early Adolescent Study Youth Closeout Event
On April 1st, members of our Research & Evaluation team welcomed the youth participants from our Catapult/Global Early Adolescent Study (GEAS) back for a closeout bash!
Starting in 2018, middle schoolers across New Orleans public schools signed up for the GEAS Sex Ed program, a study that also helped us evaluate our own curriculum, Creating a Future Together (CrAFT). The GEAS aims to learn about the relationship and health issues young people face in their communities, how these issues are the same or different from what young people experience in other parts of the world, and what can be done in New Orleans to help adolescents grow up healthily. It is a longitudinal study, which means the same group of students responded to the same set of survey questions over time to assess any possible changes in their responses. Despite pandemic-related disruptions to our original research design to evaluate CrAFT, we reconnected with youth two years after completing the initial survey and reproductive health class, and again this year at the closeout party. Baseline and follow up surveys captured youth attitudes and experiences with family and relationships, health (including puberty, reproductive health, and mental health), future goals, and attitudes about gender roles and expectations.
Before the event, staff analyzed survey results and prepared visual data highlights related to five survey data themes:
school connectedness and safety,
gender identity,
expression and attitudes,
reproductive health knowledge,
healthy relationships and consent,
and mental health.
During the closeout event these themes were paired chapter by chapter with an IWES short film, And What Happened After That, to bring the themes to life through edutainment and add richness to our discussions.
Following each chapter, youth shared reflections on the data and how much or how little those findings resonate with their experiences now. A key takeaway from what the youth shared is that they feel like they see less identity-related bullying amongst their peers now than they did in middle school. They also shared that they experienced a deeper understanding of relationship dynamics, including consent, now that they’ve had some dating experience. When IWES staff shared back their previous responses to the mental health and well-being questions, the youth reported that they were experiencing significantly increased stress in the form of pressure to prepare for academic transitions and financial independence in young adulthood after graduating from high school. Though students could identify some facts and myths about HIV and STIs when they took the initial survey, the students in attendance felt confident they could identify all facts from myths on the HIV and STI portion of the survey since receiving either the CrAFT or Making Proud Choices curriculum. Additionally, youth spoke about what it was like being in a research study that took place over a few years, highlighting the importance of frequent communication and engagement in the form of in-person events or other creative methods that maintain youth interest. They particularly enjoyed the content shared during Fun Fridays when IWES staff sent text messages to youth with fast facts on sexual health and wellness.
Fun Fridays example:
A major highlight from the event was using the And What Happened After That? film as the central edutainment of the event because the youth really appreciated the generally positive nature of the film. It was also great to see that the youth that came out to the event were actively involved throughout the afternoon both as listeners and respondents during the presentation and discussion of the data. And as a thank you for attending this two-hour event, the youth all left with a few thank yous: gift cards and food!
Finally, we want to send deep gratitude to all of the youth that participated in Catapult/GEAS, and to both our Health Educator Kaelyn for bookending our event with presence and intention through mindfulness and movement, and to our COMMS Coordinator Danielle for capturing the joy, brilliance, and energy of our event in real time.