Adolescent Hopelessness and HIV

A new report published in Healthday News on Jun 29, 2009, has found that almost 15 percent of American adolescents believe that they will die before age 35, a belief that may be strongly linked to unsafe behavior. Greater than one in seven youths have a pessimistic view about their future mortality and are more likely to take risks. The findings, published in the July issue of Pediatrics, are based on a three-year study of attitudes and behaviors among 20,594 teens from the 7th through 12th grades. The teens were asked about their views on personal mortality as it related to behaviors such as attempting suicide, using illegal drugs, sustaining fight-related injuries that required medical care, engaging in unprotected sex, being arrested by the police and contracting HIV or AIDS. Other important findings included:
*Race and wealth were important variables. While 10 percent of
white teens expressed this pessimism, 21 percent of Hispanic teens and 26
percent of African American youth harbored this fatalistic view.
*Adolescents who predicted a short lifespan were more likely to engage in risky
behavior, and teens who engaged in risky behavior (throughout the first year of the
study) "were more likely to develop a pessimistic view of their future."

Clearly, more needs to be done to both assess these attitudes early on, especially for minority and low income children, and to make every effort to develop programs that help to instill a sense of optimism and hope. Without this new focus, we will continue to raise a generation of children who feel that "they have nothing to lose."

Teens and HIV

HIV/AIDS is impacting our youth at an alarming rate. Although African Americans represent only 16 percent of U.S. teens, they represented 69 percent of all new AIDS cases reported among teens in 2005. Dr. Helen Gayle, president of CARE, said, "There is a lack of youth tailored prevention programs that relate to the youth culture." More teens are sexually active than even their parents want to admit. According to the 2007 CDC'S Youth Risk Behavioral Survey 66.5 percent of high school students have engaged in sexual intercourse. The survey also reports that 16.3 percent of teens had sex before the age of 13.

The United States has received a fair amount of criticism for pushing its abstinence-only program, even though most studies question its effectiveness. What many fail to realize is that all HIV prevention education programs includes abstinence information. While I agree that sexual health education should start at home, unfortunately, and especially with for the kids most at risk, it ain't happening. Many of the children most at risk live in chaotic situations where survival takes precedence. It's time that we stop pontificating and start demanding more funding for youth-oriented sexual health prevention programs.