1988: the AIDS epidemic implications for the sexuality education of our youth.

... Five Primary Goals for AIDS Prevention Programs AIDS prevention programs for young people should have the following five primary goals:

   First, programs should be designed to eliminate misinformation about
   HIV and to reduce panic associated with the disease.

Many young people lack basic knowledge regarding the transmission of--and protection against--HIV. In a 1985 study of teens in San Francisco, one-third did not know that AIDS could not be spread by using someone else's personal belongings and 40% did not know that using condoms lowers the risk of infection with the virus. (1) A 1986 survey of Massachusetts teenagers found that many teenagers believed that AIDS can be transmitted by kissing, sharing eating utensils, sitting on toilet seats, and donating blood. Ninety-six percent of those teens had heard about AIDS, but only 15% of the sexually active teens were taking appropriate steps to avoid transmission. Only one-third were concerned about contracting the disease. (2) Education programs must clearly address fears about casual transmission by presenting accurate data from studies done on transmission in households, among healthcare professionals, and through mosquitoes.

Furthermore, programs should address the social reason behind irrational fears of HIV transmission, and should help young people identify appropriate personal concerns. For example, the AIDS epidemic has led to a rise in the incidence of violence against homosexuals and it has the very real potential of increasing homophobia among teens. Teenagers need to understand that homosexuals did not cause AIDS; that they are not at risk of contracting HIV from the gay people they know; and that some of their classmates may be gay and deserve their respect and support.

   Second, programs should be designed to help young people delay
   premature sexual intercourse.

The average age of first coitus is 16 in the United States: in some communities, it is as young as 12. (3) Teenagers are becoming sexually active at younger ages, and most have neither the cognitive nor the emotional capacity to handle the implications of mature sexual relationships.

Promising strategies have been developed to help young teenagers and preadolescents postpone sexual intercourse. Unlike the "just say no" programs promoted by such curricula as Sex Respect, these effective programs have been designed to help teens identify and resist the social and peer pressure that encourage sexual involvement.

   Third, teenagers who are sexually active should receive information
   and services so that they will use condoms each and every time they
   have any kind of intercourse.

Regular condom use by sexually active teenagers is quite low: fewer than one in four regularly use condoms. However, many sexually active teens report that they have used a condom at least once. (4) Statements like those made in the media recently by important spokespersons, which imply that condom use is not likely to be very effective against HIV, are likely to discourage young people from using condoms but will not discourage them from having sex. It is important to acknowledge that condoms have proved to be very effective in halting the spread of HIV among certain populations, and although condoms are not 100% effective ... [they] are the only answer for sexual intercourse when the serostatus of the partner is unknown.

   Fourth, all AIDS education programs should warn children about the
   dangers of drug use.

Young people need to understand that the use of alcohol and drugs can impair their ability to make good decisions; that some drugs may suppress the immune system; and that intravenous drugs do put people at particular risk of contracting HIV if their needles are shared.

   Fifth, AIDS education programs should encourage compassion for people
   with AIDS and for people who are infected with HIV.

Too many communities in the United States have reacted with prejudice, hostility, and violence when a person's serostatus has become known. The President's Commission on the HIV Epidemic recently quite vociferously recommended an end to discrimination of people infected with HIV. Education programs have a major role to play in this regard. They must help children and youth understand why they need not fear people with AIDS, and, in turn, how they might help those presently living with the disease.

Excerpted from SIECUS Report, Volume 16, Number 6, July/August 1988.

References

1. R. J. DiClemente, J. Zorn, and L. Temoshok, "Adolescents and AIDS: A Survey of Knowledge, Attitudes, and Beliefs about AIDS in San Francisco," American Journal of Public Health, 76, no. 12 (1986).

2. L. Strunin and R. Itingson, "Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and Adolescents: Knowledge, Beliefs, Attitudes, and Behaviors," Pediatrics, 79, no. 5 (1987).

3. S. D. Clark, L. S. Zabin, and J. B. Harding, "Sex Contraception, and Parenthood: Experiences and Attitudes Among Urban Black Young Men," Family Planning Perspectives, 16, no. 44 (March-April 1984): 181-185.

4. Ibid.