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A recent report released by the MAC AIDS Fund, reports that U.S. teens can benefit from more education on HIV. The survey, conducted by Kelton Research between May 22-June 5, 2014, surveyed 1,039 American teens ages 12-17 on their views on HIV stigma, transmission, and prevention.

Some of the highlights from the report include:

* 9 out of 10 (88%) believe they are not at risk for contracting HIV. Also, one-third (33%) were not aware that HIV is a sexually transmitted infection.

* 50% of respondents are afraid of contracting HIV and would be nervous if they were to get an HIV positive diagnosis (93%), around the same percentage as if they were to get a positive pregnancy test (94%) or have to engage in first-time sexual activity (91%)

*While the belief that their risk of contracting HIV is low, the respondents were far more likely to believe they are at greater risk for developing cancer (38%), diabetes (33%), heart disease (28%) or obesity (22%) during their lifetime.

*While most believed that using a condom (71%), abstaining from sex (58%), or getting testing for HIV regularly can prevent the spread of HIV (55%), most did not know that HIV prevention also includes reducing the amount of sexual partners (47%), not using alcohol or drugs (33%) or talking with others about prevent HIV prevention (29%).

*While teens feel they can benefit from more education on HIV and AIDS and are open to having more discussions on prevention and transmission (59%), 45% admit that having these conversations makes them uncomfortable.

*Teens would feel ashamed (53%), scared (69%), and feel that others would be afraid of them (50%) if they were to be diagnosed with HIV. Also, if they were to meet someone with HIV, 24% wouldn’t want to share food or drink with that person, touch them (31%), or treat them as a normal person (51%).

Nicole’s take: Other than age, we don’t know much else about the survey respondents. Where’s the rest of the information? Can we at least get a breakdown of the data based on age range? I understand that not all quantitative data collection is solid, but I feel that we’re missing some valuable information by not including other factors. It would have also been great to see how the beliefs of the respondents break down based on geographic region, gender, race and ethnicity, urban versus suburban or rural location, grade level, or age of onset of sexual activity. That would have also been interesting to know if the students who reported receiving sex education from schools (56%) or from family members (38%) were receiving abstinence-only education or comprehensive sex education. (more…)

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Each week, I bring you a current news article, along with my commentary, to raise your voice about. Share your thoughts on topic in the comments section below. Agreeing to disagree is always great, but please be sure to keep it respectful. Nicole Clark Consulting reserves the right to remove disrespectful, off-topic, and threatening comments.

A new study reported by Georgetown University Institute for Reproductive Health recommends that children should start receiving comprehensive sex education as early as age 10.

The study, called “Investing in Very Young Adolescents’ Sexual and Reproductive Health”, gives this recommendation from a global health perspective, highlighting the need for a more global view of harm reduction and prevention that not only benefits health professionals and researchers conducting research that will lead to better health guidelines, but can encourage more effective policies and more community involvement.

Think Progress reports that one of the fears in mandating a national standard for sex education as been in large part due to the support around “abstinence-only until marriage” programs. Coupled with the belief that teaching young people about sex and sexuality outside of the confides of marriage is wrong, there is the fear that teaching children about sex will encourage them to become sexually active sooner.

In discussion about this latest research and the fears mentioned above, Victoria Jennings, director of Georgetown’s Institute for Reproductive Health told the Chicago Tribune: “[Teaching children about sex] has to be done in the context of helping them develop healthy self-esteem and the ability to negotiate their way in the world and develop expectations for themselves and their lives that will cause them to make decisions that will lead to positive outcomes.”

Nicole’s take: Have you heard of the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act? This bill, co-authored by Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) and the late Senator Frank Launtenberg (D-NJ), was re-introduced in the 2013 congressional legislature. This bill, if passed, will set the vision for comprehensive sex education in the United States. Originally named the “Responsible Education About Life Act”, this bill has been introduced to Congress since 2001. While it receives support from other Congress leaders, families, and organizations that support comprehensive sex education,  it never gets enough votes to pass both the House of Representatives or the Senate.

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