(Posted 2025 February)
PILAS Prepares Spanish-Speaking Teens and Parents
A few years ago, Prevention, Education, and Coordination team members realized the work they do with Fairfax County teens—talking about dating violence, healthy relationships, setting boundaries, the importance of consent—was missing an entire segment of the population: Teens who speak Spanish. So, they set about the work of creating a curriculum to close this gap, and PILAS was born. Volunteer Voices recently sat down with Nora Nieto, youth prevention specialist, to talk about the program. This is an excerpt of that conversation.
Volunteer Voices: Talk to us about PILAS. Why was PILAS created?
Nora Nieto: Debra [Miller, youth education and outreach specialist] saw a need in the community for a curriculum for the Hispanic community. We saw a lot in HYPE [that was missing]. It wasn’t accessible to the newly arrived students. It didn’t address the unique systems they encounter coming to the U.S., for instance, immigration and how it affects their self-esteem.
Another difference between HYPE and PILAS is that in PILAS we deal with machismo: the exaggerated sense of what a male should be (strong, the provider, don’t cry), and marianismo: women are supposed to be virgins, not supposed to date, be caretakers of the home. Those two terms set the gender roles for males and females within the Hispanic community.
In the U.S. we don’t have a word for machismo. Maybe the closest is hypermasculinity? We saw that was very different in the culture. In Spanish cultures, [these gender roles] are passed down from generation to generation. There’s a shift in gender roles in the U.S. But they are old world in Spanish-speaking cultures, and it’s harder to break from them.
What exactly does PILAS do? It’s not just a translation of HYPE, right?
We created focus groups to inform us in how we were going to translate this curriculum. We didn’t want to just translate HYPE word for word and call it a day. We wanted to know what issues teens are facing now. What are they seeing that as adults we may not be seeing? To answer these questions, we held focus groups with teens, parents, and youth-serving professionals.
They said they were seeing a lot of bullying, with non-Hispanic adolescents bullying Hispanic adolescents about their language and their accents. Drug use and substance use within relationships was another thing, so that whole coercion piece. Immigration, which impacts how teens develop their self-esteem. It affects them being newly arrived in the U.S.—understanding the language, catching up with their peers. That’s something we saw across the board with all three focus groups.
What does PILAS look like in action? How does it differ from the planning part to the version you present? What have you learned from the population you serve?
It has definitely evolved. One of the first barriers I encountered: We didn’t take into account teens who might speak Spanish but not read or write Spanish. We didn’t take into account students who might have low literacy in both languages. Now we take these barriers into account. So, it’s not as writing and reading heavy as it was in the beginning, but more activities, which the teens say they love.
Who is the main audience and how does it differ from HYPE’s audience?
It is a little bit different from HYPE. There’s a breakout version of PILAS specifically for parents. The parents told us they wanted the information themselves so they can help their teens and have those heavy conversations with them. That’s why we created PILAS para las Padres so parents can give this information to their teens.
What’s your role in PILAS?
Originally, my role was to translate the HYPE curriculum culturally and linguistically into PILAS. I have also created the PILAS para las Padres, where we talk about consent and boundaries, so it’s not just me going into schools and teaching. I also facilitate partnerships with community-based agencies and schools and talk to Hispanic kids in Spanish about dating violence, discussing boundaries, healthy relationships, things like that.
The parent workshop part wasn’t anticipated. When parents kept asking for this, we decided that would be the next step. Because domestic violence is quite relevant within Hispanic communities, giving this information to parents is helpful in stopping the generational cycle of trauma.
What’s been the response to PILAS?
The response has been really great. A lot of school social workers have seen there’s a need for this with their teens. It feels well received with the teens—there’s been a lot of feedback from the teens--especially because it’s in Spanish. They tell us they like activities but don’t like doing scenarios. Scenarios involves a lot of reading and matching questions to answers, and they aren’t fans.
What’s next?
We’re working on adaptations so we can make PILAS accessible to low-literacy students. And spreading the word about PILAS. Right now, it’s very niche, only in Region 2. We’d like to expand it into more regions of the county.
What else should we know about PILAS?
The Spanish translation of HYPE didn’t work. PILAS, which stands for, Proyecto de Prevencion e Informaccion Liderando Adolescentes Saludables, came from a Spanish saying: “ponte las pilas.” It means prepare yourself. Be ready. Get your information.
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