HIV/AIDS

“When I found out I was HIV-positive, it was just me against the world. AIDS is everybody's virus. As long as we engage in risky behaviors, we're setting ourselves up.”

Veronica
In Our Own Words®: Teens and AIDS

It’s natural for young people to feel invincible. But the fact is, half of all new HIV infections reported each year occur in people under 25 years old.1

Pedro learned at age 16 he was infected with HIV. “I thought HIV was a disease about older people, about another generation,” he says, “about people who were outside my world. I didn't believe it could ever really happen to me.”

It’s important to remind children that HIV doesn’t discriminate: someone’s behavior, not their background, puts them at risk for HIV and other sexually transmitted infections.

Many parents don’t know how begin conversations with their children about sex. “There are boundaries with your kids you sometimes don't know how to approach,” says Gail, whose daughter Antigone had contracted HIV through unprotected intercourse.

“It’s a parent’s job to give children an understanding that they’re OK, that they’re important to the world, to their family,” Antigone says. “When young people really believe that, they’re less likely to seek outside approval through peers, drugs, or sex.”

You can help protect your child by getting the information and developing the skills that will help you have potentially lifesaving conversations with your kids about sexual health.

Remember: Every hour, two young Americans are infected with HIV.2

Read Issues and Answers at wordscanwork.com for more about this topic.

1. National Institutes of Health
2. AIDS Action

© 2006 Blake Works, Inc.

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