Miriam Arbeit, a child development doctoral student at Tufts, has been elected to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (DESE) AIDS Advisory and Materials Review Panel.
Arbeit, a provost fellow in the M.A./Ph.D. program for Applied Child Development within the Eliot-Pearson Department of Child Development, will serve on the advisory panel, which reviews the sex education materials that elementary and secondary school teachers use in their classrooms.
Arbeit said that as a member of the DESE panel, she will sit on subcommittees formed within the panel, such as a task force to analyze HIV/AIDS and sex education policies in Massachusetts schools.
The task force brings together youth leaders from across the state to draft and present a proposal for a new sex education policy, according to Arbeit.
"I was thrilled to accept. It's a real honor," Arbeit said. "My job is basically to say ‘yes, this is appropriate' or ‘no, this is not appropriate,' when it comes to how we are teaching students about sex."
The panel is part of DESE's HIV/AIDS Program, which assists local school districts by providing them with effective HIV, STD and pregnancy prevention education materials, along with training for teachers, nurses, counselors and administrators. The panel works with other state and private agencies to accomplish the HIV/AIDS Program's goals and gives guidance to the program.
Arbeit is also a graduate research assistant for Project GPS, a collaborative effort between the Eliot-Pearson Department's Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development and theThrive Foundation for Youth of Menlo Park, Calif.
She said her perspective on the panel comes partly from her research at Project GPS, which analyzes adolescents' strengths, rather than their weaknesses, in the area of sexual development.
"Sexual development for teenagers is often cast in a very negative light," Arbeit said. "It's all about the risks and dangers, which are very real, but key to preventing these dangers is promoting positive possibilities. Fear of these dangers prevents us from having a lot of conversations that could help adolescents manage their pressure and make better, healthier choices."
Arbeit received her bachelor's degree in psychology and human rights from Columbia University in 2007, before working as a middle school teacher, focusing primarily on health and sexuality education.
Professor of Child Development Richard Lerner, Arbeit's doctoral advisor, said Arbeit's experience with adolescents and her academic credentials make her an important asset to the panel.
"She brings not only a depth of knowledge about adolescents and sexual health, but an ability to effectively communicate with adolescents and a strength-based research perspective," Lerner said. "She will be a unique addition to the panel."
Lerner believes Arbeit will offer a fresh perspective.
"She's adding a new focus to a study that hasn't looked at sexual health before and is looking at what resources educators need to use to put adolescents on a path to better sexual health," Lerner said. "Sexual development in adolescents has always been viewed as a problem, but Miriam is helping to change that perception."
Edmond Bowers, director of research at Project GPS, explained that the project aims to highlight the potential for positive rather than negative behavior among youth.
"Our research is predicated on the belief that all kids have strengths. They are not problems to be managed but resources to be developed," Bowers said.
Bowers said schools often do not teach goal management strategies, instead focusing on memorization or test-taking skills. Arbeit's research within Project GPS addresses the lack of available resources available to teens, he said.
"Adolescents need to have a skill set they can use to achieve healthy outcomes," Arbeit said. "Better sexuality education helps not only that particular aspect of their development, but gives adolescents a strong sense of themselves as able to speak out and connect to people in a more fulfilling and positive way."
