THE FACE
OF HIV/AIDS:
People with HIV/AIDS as educators
why use
HIV positive individuals?
| “This is what happened to me; don’t let it happen to you.” |
According to the
Office of National AIDS Policy¹s Youth and HIV/AIDS: An American
Agenda, “One in four new HIV infections in the U.S. are estimated
to occur among people under the age of 20. An estimated 40,000 to
80,000 Americans become infected with HIV each year, or an average
of 110 to 220 a day. Under current trends, that means that between
27 and 54 young people are infected with HIV each day, or more than
two young people every hour.”
Clearly, it is
imperative to educate young people about HIV. But it is difficult
to convince young people that they must be very careful to avoid behaviors
that place them at risk for HIV infection – partly because they cannot
see the consequences of infection in their peers. Because of the virus¹
long latency period, most teens who are infected with HIV will not
become symptomatic until they are in their twenties.
An educator with HIV can “put a face” on the disease. When
a person living with HIV comes into the classroom and talks about
his or her experience, teens begin to understand that HIV can happen
to real people with ordinary lives, and that when infection occurs
it is devastating. He or she is someone who struggled with an unexpected
diagnosis, and struggles daily with the physical results of the damage
to the immune system, with medication schedules, with emotional ups
and downs, and the difficult job of telling family and friends. This
message is powerful: This is what happened to me; don¹t let it
happen to you.
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