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September 11, 2000
Q&A:
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Joseph Donnelly
professor, Health Professions/PERSL
Alcohol and substance abuse may be Joseph Donnelly's primary area of concentration,
but it's his work with 67 schools in New Jersey in sexuality education that
has garnered him a projected five-year total of $1.2 million in grants for two
projects he directsÑProject CARE (Community Awareness and Relationship Education)
and Project HOPE (Helping Others through Peer Education).
Project CARE, which began in 1997, is an abstinence education program for students ages 12-15, their parents and teachers from schools in Elizabeth and Paterson. Funding comes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Branch Office of Adolescent Pregnancy Programs. The project has received $615,000 over the course of four years, with a fifth-year funding expected for a total of $725,000.
Now into its third year, Project HOPE is a collaboration between Montclair State and the Teen Institute of the Garden State (TIGS). The project has expanded that organization's focus on abstinence from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, to include abstinence from early sexual activity. Teens in this project attend workshops and serve as peer educators in their home school districts. Funding for the past three years from the New Jersey State Department of Health and Senior Services has been $295,000, with a projected five-year total of $545,000.
"Character building and self-esteem impact and affect the decisions teens make within the area of sexuality education," said the Health Professions professor. "I want to help children within areas that are meaningful and important to them, and at a young enough age." Donnelly recently discussed Projects CARE and HOPE, and the textbook he co-authored, Mental Health: Dimensions of Self-Esteem and Emotional Well-Being, which is expected out next month.
INSIGHT: What planted
the seed for Project CARE?
Donnelly: There's a high prevalence of teen pregnancy, HIV and other sexually
transmitted diseases in the adolescent population, and based on the numbers,
there was tremendous need for this type of program in New Jersey. Project CARE
started out with six schools and now we're serving 12, working with approximately
3,500 students and 48 teachers.
INSIGHT: Is that
what led to Project HOPE?
Donnelly: Yes. I infused sexuality education into TIGS' already existing abstinence
message to create a more comprehensive program. High school students get trained
in abstinence education, then go back to their schools and act as peer educators.
Working with approximately 55 schools throughout New Jersey, it's a nice approach.
School advisers and teachers also get specialized training at Montclair State
so they can better assist and support the peer educators at their school. Project
HOPE is a synergistic effort to raise self-esteem among classmates so they can
become more supportive of each other.
INSIGHT: How do
you increase self-esteem in teens?
Donnelly: There's a strong relationship between goal setting and self-esteem.
We also teach them to recognize consequences and options before they make decisions.
This process strengthens the framework of their emotional structure. As they're
able to make better decisions, perhaps be able to stop and think before they
engage in various behaviors, students begin to feel better about themselves
and change their emotional outlook.
INSIGHT: Why are
these grants important to these projects?
Donnelly: Picture a triangle. One side is research, the second is how it impacts
the community and the third side is teaching. Grants are in the center because
they strongly impact research and create a strong link between the community
and the school systems. In terms of teaching, this research allows me to provide
my students with information about things that are really happening out there.
INSIGHT: Tell us
about the textbook you co-authored.
Donnelly: I was looking for a textbook to use in my mental health course, and
to my astonishment there were none within the area of health education. My co-authors
and I took a holistic, multi-dimensional approach to mental health, which includes
much more of a health education focus. That's the same approach we're taking
in these projects with the understanding that sexuality is a good thing and
an important part of our lives. But, it is not responsible for a 12- to 15-year-old
to be engaged in that type of behavior.