The Importance of HIV/AIDS Awareness

Although about 40,000 new HIV infection cases are reported each year in the , AIDS education remains the essential worldwide method to prevent the disease from spreading. This specific education is aimed to reaching all ages, especially young adults, who are sexually active. However, teaching AIDS education in schools has become a controversial issue.


The main reason why AIDS education should be taught in middle and high schools is due to the growing trends of sexually active teens. The motivation for teaching it in schools is because almost all young people attend school in some point in their life. AIDS education in other ways, or locations, may not be as universal to reaching the young population. For example, not all teens go to the same medical facilities, churches, or organizations. Plus, these places may not provide or may have misleading AIDS education materials. However, schools are a place where students can receive the same message. Based on tradition, parents are supposed to tell their children about sex and the responsibilities and dangers that go along with it. On the other hand, parents are sometimes not equipped with updated AIDS information. Some parents may be embarrassed to have the conversation or may block the AIDS topic altogether due to moral beliefs. Based on Avert.org, an interviewee named Erika stated, “If I wouldn’t of learned about all the STDs that I could get from being sexually active I might not be a virgin right now.”