HIV AND AIDS IN HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

HIV and AIDS are very frightening to most people; public education is the key to ending most of the fear and stigma surrounding the disease. Once people understand how the disease is and is not spread, there will be less fear of those who are infected. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is transmitted from one person to another only through infected body fluids such as blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. HIV is not spread through tears, by coughing, sharing straws, cups, or eating utensils, kissing, hugging, sitting next to someone who is infected or even through slow dancing with someone who is infected. Healthy children of all ages can attend the same schools as those who are HIV infected. No special precautions need to be taken other than that an HIV positive child should not play contact sports, such as football, hockey, or wrestling, where injury and bleeding are likely.

Whether we like it or not, we are ALL living with HIV, even if we are not actually infected with the virus. It is up to each and every one of us to adapt our lifestyle to prevent the spread of the infection and to teach our children and others important safety measures. All children should be taught not to touch blood without gloves under any circumstances, no matter who is bleeding. Safe sex education needs to start in elementary school and reinforced over and over and over again. Everyone should be taught about the importance of condom use with each and every intimate encounter, from start to finish. Children and teenagers need to realize that they cannot tell by looking at someone if they are HIV positive; someone may look healthy and be the most popular athlete at the school and turn out to have HIV.

We need to be more worried about the HIV status of those strangers whom teenagers are meeting and forming intimate relationships with rather than the people who are known to be HIV positive. Knowing someone's HIV status is actually better than not knowing and assuming that a potential sexual partner is HIV negative because they "don't look sick".

Sure, HIV and AIDS are frightening; so is cancer. The difference is that, for the most part, HIV and AIDS are preventable. Public education and sex education are the keys that will keep this epidemic from spreading further. Ignorance and ignoring the facts will spell disaster. A good place for people to begin learning about HIV and AIDS is http://www.thebody.com