Tim St. Amour June 5, 2000 Importance of AIDS Education The issue of HIV/AIDS has been a developing concern since the early 1980's. It is an issue that has sparked fear in everyone, but "society" has narrowed it down to certain people that can contract the AIDS virus. The stereotypical "AIDS" victim is not an IV drug user or a practicing homosexual; it is anyone, anyone who has unprotected sex, anyone who has had a blood transfusion in the past twenty years, or anyone who was innocently brought into the world by an infected mother. As unfair as it is, HIV/AIDS can attack someone whom society would have never "branded" as a stereotypical AIDS victim. This issue of HIV/AIDS needs to be addressed, and it needs to be addressed now. The epidemic of HIV/AIDS is on the rise in the state of Rhode Island. As many as 1740 residents may be infected with the virus and not be aware of it and the majority of these victims are between the ages of twenty and forty. The only solution to this problem, as is the only solution to any problem, is prevention through education. Of course it is easy to hand out literature and condoms to adults, but are they really going to listen? As a community, we can encourage HIV/AIDS testing, but will it be taken advantage of? Since these are adults being familiarized with HIV/AIDS, how to contract it, the consequences, and the raw statistics, they will probably disregard all of the information. Education on the issue of HIV/AIDS obviously needs to begin at an earlier age. Since this is such a controversial issue, the age at which education should begin is debatable. The children need to be mature enough to handle the concerns and they need to be young enough to begin practicing measures of safety that will continue throughout their lives. But, when it comes down to it, education of HIV/AIDS should begin when these children are able to understand that sharing blood can be dangerous. A good example of this situation is a five-year-old boy confronting his mom and saying that he and his best friend are going to prick their fingers and become "blood brothers." A response that will give a good reason why this should not be done and provide information about HIV/AIDS would be: " Some people have some things in their blood that can make you very sick and sharing blood is not a good idea." An alternate solution would be to use a sterilized needle to prick their fingers and have them drop blood onto the ground and rub it into the dirt with their feet. Under these circumstances, the children have been supervised while blood is present and have been informally educated about HIV/AIDS. This may never happen, in which case, children should be made aware of HIV/AIDS at the same time the "drug" and "sex talks" are being given. This way the topics are being interrelated and connections can be made. Examples of these connections may include using drugs with needles or having unprotected sex that can result in the contraction of the virus. Not only is it the responsibility of the parents to discuss this concern with their children, but it is also that of the school system. As a community, we are all responsible for protecting ourselves and more importantly, others. It would be upsetting to realize that one of the more than 1740 HIV/AIDS victims in the state of Rhode Island is someone you know. Moreover, it would be devastating to discover that you could have provided the education that could have prevented the spread of this life-taking disease to your friend.