Andrea Weress, age 17, a senior at a high school in Delmar, N.Y. now lives in Texas.
She first became involved with the issue of AIDS because her mother,
Eszter Weress, has been giving talks about AIDS in Albany area high
schools. At a seminar on AIDS prevention, Andrea and a friend designed
a poster which urged teens to save sex for marriage. The poster was
adapted and made into 60 billboards which were put up in 10 states in
1994.
When
she was 14 Andrea gave a powerful speech at a Save Sex rally held in
Garfield, New Jersey. She told other young people present not to "waste
your energy on sex" and to use their energies instead to develop their
talents. She also shared about a close friend who had gotten involved
in a sexual relationship who suffered a lot because of doing so.
Andrea
loves drama. She participates in an acting group that gives
presentations at churches and libraries about AIDS, how to resist
pressures to use drugs and alcohol or to have sex. She also helped to
create a TV show for and by teenagers called "In your face" which aired
on several cable TV stations around the country.
Matthew Jones, who currently attends law school, was a junior at Williams College in
Massachusetts when he decided to get involved with the work of Free
Teens. He spent his 1995 winter break giving talks on AIDS to high
school students in the Albany, N.Y. area where he grew up. Matt gave 17
presentations in all, reaching 270 students.
At
two of the schools, students filled out evaluations of Matt's
presentation. In response to the question, "did the program cause you
to re-evaluate your sexual attitude/behavior?", 22% gave the highest
rating of 10 out of 10. In all, 80% of the students gave a positive
response.
Another question asked was, "Did your view of
abstinence become more positive or strengthened as a result of the
program? If yes, in what way?" Many students answered yes, writing such
responses as:
"I know I'm not the only one choosing it."
"It taught me that I could wait for sex."
"I thought I wanted a baby, but I don't."
"Because I know the facts."
"It made me think."
"I had not planned on having intercourse, but now I will certainly not until I am ready."
Matt also spoke to student leaders at a junior college. The supervisor said of his presentation:
"Matt
was very open... He established a positive rapport with his peers and
provided examples they could identify with. I thoroughly enjoyed his
presentation and recommend it to other Jr. Colleges, high schools, and
middle schools."
Matt strongly recommends that other college
students get involved in AIDS education. He says he learned how to
speak in public more effectively, "but in a way that is
non-judgemental," and learned "how to be a better educator."
