Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
PRNewswire - November 27, 2006
Tom Donohue, Founder and Executive Director of Who's Positive, said, "The stark truth is that teens, like it or not, are having sex! Parents must realize that their teenagers may be engaging in risky sexual behaviors. The next wave of HIV infections is becoming today's youth - youth who have limited access to condoms and lack easy access to getting tested. Parents, communities, schools and faith-based organizations must push past the taboo of sex to discuss and provide resources for young adults who engage in sexual activities with or without their parents knowledge."
In a recent non-scientific survey conducted by Who's Positive during programming to 1800 high school students in Gainesville and Pensacola, Florida approximately 95% of high school students admitted they, or someone they knew within two years of their age, were sexually active. Also, according to Child Trends Facts at a Glance approximately one in every four sexually active 15 to 24 year olds contracts an STD each year.
"As a parent of three teenagers and an educator, parents must wake up and take this stand as the first educator of our children and as an educator call to our schools to immediately bring comprehensive sex education to the forefront. We have an obligation when students are telling us they are sexually active to act," said Janine Plavac, Director of Academy of Health Professions at Gainesville High School.
Who's Positive strongly urges parents to bring forward school board proposals allowing schools to provide free condoms, offer better peer-to-peer comprehensive sex education programs and to work with local agencies to provide free rapid HIV testing to high school and college students. These resources will allow youth to empower themselves to know their HIV status ultimately helping to decrease infection rates among young adults.
Half of all new HIV infections occur in those under the age of 25. According to the CDC, over 40,000 young adults have been diagnosed with AIDS and over 10,000 living with AIDS have died since the beginning of the epidemic.
"No matter what we teach them, America's youth are going to continue to have sex," added Donohue. "On this World AIDS Day, we need to commit ourselves to give teens all the tools they need to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS."
On December 1, 2006 Who's Positive will wrap up a 48 day nationwide HIV testing initiative called Operation Get Tested using first hand accounts of young adults living with HIV as a way to encourage peers to be tested. Thousands of young adults have turned out to programming and hundreds have empowered themselves to know their status.
About Who's Positive
Founded in 2003, Who's Positive is a national non-profit organization which foregrounds the reality of living with HIV through first-hand accounts of young adults coping with the disease. In telling the stories of people living with HIV, Who's Positive hopes to reduce the transmission of HIV among teens and young adults - a population with one of the fastest growing infection rates. For more information on Who's Positive or Operation Get Tested visit http://www.whospositive.org
SOURCE Who's Positive
http://www.whospositive.org/
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