DMHS offers many helpful programs for the student body that are very accessible to students, including the popular New Jersey Teen Prevention Education Program, or Teen Pep. Teen Pep is a program designed for New Jersey schools, aiming to promote the importance of sexual health. 

“This year, we tried to make our workshop more inclusive of different sexual orientations and relationships that are present in our society and campus,” senior and Teen Pep leader Angelica Gonzales said. 

Teen Pep revolves around the idea of peer education and empowers high school students to make safe and healthy choices. Teen Pep members perform skits, do visual representations, and perform group activities with fellow students. The “Let’s Wait Awhile:  Postponing Sexual Involvement” workshop focus attention on how sex impacts a relationship, how to communicate better with your partner, and how important sexual consent is.

This peer-to-peer-education is a unique style of teaching that improves students’ abilities and attitudes regarding “uncomfortable” topics, such as sexuality, gender, identity, sexual health, and more. 

Teen Pep workshops utilize this style to teach freshmen sexual health, specifically designed for them because it is crucial for younger students to be well-informed.

 “Teen Pep provides an opportunity for freshmen students to become exposed to information they did not have access to before our workshops,” adviser Maria Buckley said. 

TV shows and movies often show the peer pressure surrounding teenagers that influence them to have sex during high school. However, this workshop normalized abstinence and waiting to have sex. 

For the workshop titled “Later Baby: Pregnancy Prevention,” seniors talked with the ninth graders about different forms of sex protection.

Teen Pep gives freshmen the opportunity to mature as people as they gain awareness about the importance of sexual health.