Youth gathering learns harsh facts of HIV/AIDS

Publisher: Herald and Review (Illinois)
By: Alicia Spates
First published: October 29, 2006

Each holding a plastic cup filled with clean, clear water, four boys and three girls participated in an activity explaining the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and infections.

"Eighty percent of people with a sexually transmitted disease or a sexually transmitted infection don't know they have it," said Laura Scogin to a crowd of about 80 teens and adults Saturday afternoon.

But after one person dirtied, or infected, their clean water of body fluids, the infection began to spread to the other boys and girls as they swapped water, symbolic of body fluids, with one another.

"This is how it continues to grow and grow," said Scogin, the education coordinator of the New Life Pregnancy Center in Decatur.

Reasonable Service, in collaboration with the Macon County Health Department and the Community Health Improvement Center, presented a discussion on HIV/AIDS to youth Saturday at Kingdom Come Ministries.

Reasonable Service is a nonprofit, faith-based community program geared to serve and educate the community about such social issues as hunger, homelessness, impoverishment, recidivism and health, among others.

Roxie Rogers, a nurse at Reasonable Service, gave a presentation on the symptoms, statistics and causes of HIV/AIDS.

Also a nurse in the obstetrics department of Decatur Memorial Hospital, Rogers said she has noticed an increase of pregnant teenage girls who have come into the hospital, which tells her that teens are having unprotected sex.

But the lesson isn't just for the females, but the males, too.

"They need to know that they can get it from someone, or it can be contracted," Rogers said of the males. "You never know who has HIV/AIDS. There's no age limit to AIDS."

A movie was shown and informational booths of community organizations, including Decatur Memorial Hospital, Generation Impact and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, were set up at the event.

Nicole Jackson, who is on the board of directors of Reasonable Service, said, "(The booths) are a way to get the youth familiar with the organizations in the community and inform them."

The program targeted teens, but adults also were present, taking in information and asking their own questions.

Thomalita Franklin of Decatur attended the event because she wanted her three children - Michael, 12, Freeman, 13, and Tamara, 15 - to be informed about the disease.

All three children said they learned that it is good to wait until marriage; but if you decide to have sex, always use protection.

Tamara said the information she learned is something she will "take to mind, and it will stop me from taking risks."

"It's good to learn more about HIV/AIDS, so I can know what's out there," Michael said.

Original Content >>

http://www.religionandsocialpolicy.org/newsletters/article.cfm?id=5383