Disgusted by ignorance - for past 2 days

[MizlurksaLot]

I wasn't going to post about this when it happened, but I keep thinking about it and - I just have to. On Thursday night, I went to a convenience store with my cousin. I waited in the car while she went inside to pay for gas. When she came out, she looked pretty upset. Then she told me about the conversation she over heard the girls in the store having. It went something like this: "Yeah, I don't care if I get AIDS (laughing). I'll do . . ." (they went on to discuss having unprotected sex). These girls couldn't have been more than 15. Now, a relative who was very close to both of us died of AIDS when we were young, so we took this very personally! I was totally shocked, and angered. Don't people talk to their children about things like that? Don't they realize how serious it is? My response when she told me what they'd said was "Watch someone die of AIDS, and then tell me you don't care if you get it!". I realize, they probably weren't serious, but how could anyone possibly think something like that is funny ??? Sorry, I just really needed to vent about this, get it out of my head, and out in the open!

 

[treesinger]

Wow. Another sign that apocalypse is upon us.

That is really disturbing.

 

[arminnie]

Yes, I know all about how awful an AIDS death can be - I lived in SF for many years and lost many colleagues.

The saddest thing is to see 20 year olds getting the disease. They SHOULD KNOW BETTER. Many individuals contracted aids years ago before the knowledge was out there.

Some people say we need better AIDS education, but I honestly don't know what would work. There can't be anyone over 6 who doesn't know how you get AIDS. I guess what some people need is to be BRAINWASHED into taking it seriously.

 

[Disney Doll]

Early on, I think the need for education was paramount. At this point in time, there is no way that everyone in developed countries does not know how AIDS is transmitted.

There are several things in that scenario that make me sad:
1. Making light of a disease that has taken so many of our best and brightest
2. The fact that 15 year old girls are even talking in public about having sex, let alone knowing the details of what they can/will/want to do!
3. The fact that these same 15 year old girls, even after being flooded with AIDS information for their entire lives, still don't really comprehend the seriousness of the disease and its effects.

I agree with you Miz. I am a nurse and have watched many wonderful people die of AIDS during the course of my 20+ year career. It's a hard way to go...sigh...

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

If those girls had been teens in the 80s and 90s they wouldn't speak so casually about having unprotected relations.

Sory about your friend.

 

[luvmydogs]

I'm a GA State-certified HIV counselor, although I am no longer at that job. It would've been awfully nice for those girls to have come to work with me one day while I tell a fellow human being that s/he is HIV positive and see the ramifications of such devastating news. Had one woman bring a gun in her purse who said she was going to shoot herself right then and there.

I realize that adolescence is a time when children feel they are immortal, but being so glib about HIV and sex in general is very serious business (actually, no matter what your age). Sex can be deadly.

I feel sorry for them. And I'm very sorry about the loss of your friend.

 

[Pooh Girl 71]

Kids don't think bad things will happen to them.

I did my internship at Planned Parenthood and you would not beleive the stories I heard from young girls (12, 13, 14). I don't shock easily. However, I'm lucky my jaw didn't hit the ground the day the 12 yr old was telling me how she always has unprotected anal sex b/c she didn't want to get pregnant

 

[grinningghost]

Just shaking my head. I have a 15 year old daughter, and if I ever heard her say something like that, I'm not sure what I would do, but it wouldn't be pretty.

 

[MizlurksaLot]

Originally posted by Disney Doll
Early on, I think the need for education was paramount. At this point in time, there is no way that everyone in developed countries does not know how AIDS is transmitted.

Unfortunately, that just isn't true - I wish it were, it should be . There are plenty of people, both uneducated and educated who are extremely misinformed on how you can/can not contract HIV/AIDS

 

[arminnie]

Originally posted by MizlurksaLot
There are plenty of people, both uneducated and educated who are extremely misinformed on how you can/can not contract HIV/AIDS

And after all has been said and done I am at a loss as to how you can get the attention of people who in some instances choose to remain ignorant of the facts. I've personally seen more misinformation about how you get AIDS (some people still think you can get it from just being around an infected person) than how you avoid it.

I lived in the San Francisco area and you literally could not walk 2 blocks without seeing a billboard or a bus go by with pretty explicit AIDS info - and yet you are right there are still some who remain misinformed. I don't have a clue how you reach them.

There are still people out there who don't really know all of the facts about how you can and can't get pregnant and pregnancy had been around for centuries longer than AIDS.

 

[N.Bailey]

I fully support a parent's right to choose what is right for their child, so I really am not trying to get into that debate here.

My 12 year old, 6th grade daughter (actually 7th grade I guess ) goes to school with this one little girl and when the girls were in 4th grade, this child's parents would not give permission for this child to view the movie about getting your period. Then last year (5th grade), she was not allowed to participate on the class that dealt with sexually transmitted diseases and this class wasn't really into too much detail, but covered the basics. This past year (6th grade), they had a sex ed program that lasted several weeks (not a regular class) and again, this child was not allowed to participate. This program brought an outside teacher in (highly trained) and went pretty in depth about sex in general. It also taught the kids more in depth about sexually transmitted diseases and how to prevent them, plus it also went onto coping skills that kids might need to help them tell prospective partners they're simply not ready yet. They all also had to participate in skits to see how others would handle various situations. My kids (both in the same grade and in this same class) were very embarrassed, but they did come away more knowledgeable! I also reinforce these views at home and thankfully, both of my children are very open with me (sometimes too open, did I say that? ) and we discuss stuff like this whenever they feel a need to understand something a little more.

Anyway, as I said, this child's parents have every right to hold their child from all of these classes. I'll defend that right till the end. I am a little upset however that they did not let her participate, but they teach this child NOTHING at home. This girl had to learn about her period from the girls in her class at the age of 12. Yeah, that's much better than the school teaching her in an appropriate way, isn't it? She doesn't have a clue about sex and disease either, other than the way 12 year boys and girls talk about it. Yeah, much better than the professionals that the school brought in.

I am just very upset at this girl's parents lack of responsibility and I know there are many others out there with similar stories. So, no, I don't believe we're all educated. I don't have any answers though!!!