The Aban Aya Youth Project (AAYP) is a program designed to reduce rates of risky behaviors among African American children in 5th through 8th grades. AAYP is an Afro-centric social development curriculum instructed over a four-year period, beginning in the fifth grade. The number of lessons varies each year. The name of the intervention is drawn from two words in the Akan (Ghanian) language: ABAN (fence) signifies double/social protection AYA (the unfurling fern) signifies self determination. The purpose of the intervention is to promote abstinence from sex, to teach students how to avoid drugs and alcohol and how to resolve conflicts nonviolently.