Karina Garcia doesn’t think the current abstinence-based sex education in schools is working.

She only has to look around Northwest Whitfield High School and see pregnant teenage classmates.

“Most people go up to them and say, “Congratulations, let’s have a baby shower,’ and stuff like that, like it’s OK, instead of them saying, ‘Well, you shouldn’t have done that,’” said Garcia, a 17-year-old senior. “I understand they’re friends, but congratulations?”

Garcia and four other students from Murray and Whitfield counties — Markette Hambrick, Jessica Headrick, David Ramos and Kaila White — recently attended Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention (G-CAPP) Youth Advocacy Training sessions in Washington, D.C. The students are part of a group called the Visions of Hope (VOH) Coalition. The goal is to educate youth about the consequences of sex and empower them with knowledge to make informed, safe decisions. They also want to reduce teen and adolescent pregnancy rates.

One of their main goals is for the state to adopt a comprehensive sex education program. They plan to speak to local board of education members and members of the area legislative delegation about proposed changes. However, the students are aware of the social, political, religious and generational challenges they face when approaching sex education. They also face a potential roadblock as teenagers trying to talk to adults about sex.

“We are teenagers and some people undermine us,” said White, a 16-year-old sophomore at Northwest Whitfield High School. “They don’t feel comfortable about talking to teenagers about sex. We are empowered even more to say we’re here to talk about this.”

The problem has many layers, the students said. Some parents look to the schools to teach sex education, but the current curriculum is lacking. Some parents don’t believe schools should teach sex education, but they neglect to teach their children. The students advocate progressive, age appropriate sex education that begins in elementary school.

“It’s going downhill really fast,” said Hambrick, a 17-year-old student at Southeast High School. “We see teenage pregnancies in high school, and we’re like, ‘Oh no!’ But now we’re seeing kids in middle school getting pregnant, and we’re like, ‘This is ridiculous. Are you serious?’”

Abstinence-only sex education does not provide information about contraceptives, while it also leaves out some groups, Ramos said.

“That does not reach out to everybody,” said Ramos, a 17-year-old Dalton High School student. “It does not reach out to gay people, because it does not apply to them because they can’t marry. Comprehensive sex education reaches out to everyone, gives out more information and is more beneficial.”

G-CAPP was founded in the 1990s by actress and activist Jane Fonda. She traveled around the state and was struck by the number of pregnant adolescents. The program uses community-based organizers to address the underlying problems that lead to adolescent pregnancy, such as poverty, unemployment, violence and drugs. Dalton resident Rick Myers, a co-owner of Myers Carpet, is on the G-CAPP board of directors.

Garcia attended the training in September (she was one of eight high school students in the nation chosen), while the other four traveled to Washington from Nov. 6-10. About 130 students from across the country attended the two training sessions. They attended several seminars, including how to give interviews to the media and how to disseminate information online.

So far, the students are making strides in spreading their message, said Holly Rice, director of the Family Support Council.

“I think that these kids have made more difference than we’ve been able to make and all the adults that have been working on this problem because they are speaking articulately and from their heart,” Rice said. “And they are the people we want to be reaching. I think they are going to make a positive change. I’m more hopeful than I’ve been in years.”

It all starts with having the courage to talk about sex.