BRISTOL, Vt. -
This isn't your typical classroom, with a skate park, instruments, and grafitti on the walls -- and you might wonder what the curriculum includes.
This is the Bristol Hub.
"They had this place pretty much built for us," says 16-year-old Ryan Davis.
It was built for teenagers. The Hub is a non-profit, substance free center for young Vermonters. They teach important lessons here, even the sometimes uncomfortable subject of sex.
"Teens are going to have sex its going to happen -- it does happen," says Ryan Krushenick with the Bristol Hub.
So instead of ignoring the elephant in the room the Bristol Hub is offering a 16-lesson course.
"Sex is something no one wants to talk about but it's everywhere -- music, movies, it's on T.V. shows," Krushenick.
Reporter: "How is this class different than your sex ed class in school?"
Ryan Davis: "They're more easygoing. They're more oriented for us."
Reporter: "Do you feel more comfortable here?"
Davis: "Yeah, it's easier to talk to the people."
"I know most of the people here, so if I did it in school I'd feel more shy, especially with a teacher I don't know," says 14-year-old Sarah Muller.
In school, the kids say they don't usually talk about abstinence and delay tactics, but here at the Hub, they do.
"You learn how to say no and different ways to do it without being completely rude about it and without hurting the other person's feelings," says 17-year-old Taylor Grenier.
And there are financial rewards for these kids as well -- real money. The Vermont Health Department offers $300 in federal funds to the Hub per student. The Hub plans to reward each teen with $100 of that money if they successfully complete the program.
"The incentive works and what they're learning works, and to me it's the end result that matters," Krushenick says.
And that result is no laughing matter. Organizers say the kids take it seriously. For girls, they have particular concerns.
"On top of STDs they need to worry about getting pregnant," Krushenick says.
"Even though we act and say we know a lot about it we don't," says Grenier.
"Sex is a life changing thing but most kids don't think about it they want it for the fun but they don't realize what the turnout could be," Muller says.
So the Bristol Hub hopes to change that with a sex education curriculum a little different than the rest.
