Project Summary
169 words by pcarter
One of the biggest issues I see facing the world which was addressed in my week two blog was about the lack of awareness and prevention of HIV/AIDS and STD’s. The project that I wanted to implement was a peer health education program within the community. The program would target individuals of middle school and high school ages. It would also be active in raising the awareness of these sexually transmitted diseases on campus. My main focus would be prevention through education. I feel that by educating individuals about their bodies, they will be more equipped to make informed decisions. I also believe that the teenagers will be more receptive to myself as a young adult because it makes the experience more relatable rather than in the case of an elder try to educate them on such a sensitive issue as intimacy.
September 19th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I totally agree Princess! In high school, one of my graduation requirements was community service and I chose to volunteer at a middle school in a part of town where the children needed attention and people to actually care about their well-being. I felt that by being a teenager, even though i was older than them, I would make a stronger impact on them than the teachers would. I ended up getting extremely close to some of the kids and began learning horrific things about them and what these young people had been through! But to make a long story short, I was suprised to know how many of them had been sexually active and had no idea of what certain STD’s and HIV/AIDS were and how they were transmitted. A number of them have had abortions and STD’s and it hurt my heart to know that a little education about sex could have made their lives a tad bit easier! So I completely support your project!
September 19th, 2009 at 7:54 pm
This is an issue that should definitely be discussed in school settings. I believe that prevention through education is a great concepts. I would suggest doing skits to education the children because people tend to understand things better when there are visuals, and it could depict situations and settings that they can all relate to.
September 19th, 2009 at 9:13 pm
These types of diseases should be prevented, and for these reasons we should do something about it. We should go school to school and have meetings with these classes of how it can affect their lives. Also, we can be peer mentor to them if they need help in any situations.
September 19th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I think your project will be very informative as well as effective. HIV/AIDS and several other sexually transmitted diseases are very problematic in society. One of the reasons why they are so problematic is because many individuals don’t talk about prevention. That is why your idea of talking to middle school students, high school students, and Xavier students is so important. It is crucial for the youth of our society to know and understand how to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. You said that you wanted to enact prevention through education. I think a good idea for you to consider would be to contact health care professionals who have extensive knowledge on STDs. These individuals could probably assist you by providing you with the proper information in terms of the STDs as well as information dealing with preventative tips or methods. You could also try to see if they could help you by talking to the students as well.
September 20th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
This is a great idea because I feel that if children as young as middle school ages are educated about something as serious as life-threating STDs, they would be much more likely to avoid the unfortunate fate that so many Americans face as young adults with STDs. You could see if you could find other young adults as well as yourself to actually tell true-life stories of the dangers of STDs and AIDs, telling of how they never are cured and could lead to infertility, and even death.
September 20th, 2009 at 5:25 pm
More awareness about HIV/AIDS and STDS is good. I like that you want to educate the students. I was just wondering how are you gonna go about of starting this? Will you be working with a group that is already trying to promote awareness or will you start something of your own? Where will you educate these kids? If you said school, then what steps do you have to go through to actually be able to go to the school and talk to the kid?
September 21st, 2009 at 2:13 pm
I think it’s a great idea that you are addressing your project on awareness of HIV/AIDS and STD’s. Many people especially teenagers and young adults overlook the fact that these health concerns are really important and can affect their lives drastically if they were to be affected. It’s also a good idea that you are targeting middle school and high school for it is around that age that they start to learn more about themselves. Many schools in New Orleans do not really have these types of program in school and since the child may be afraid to talk to their parents about it, it would be a wonderful idea to raise awareness to these young adults. There is a program in Louisiana called the LAHIV411 that could help you spread awareness if you want to look into that.
October 6th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
First and foremost, I am very passionate about this issue. I have never known anyone personally that was affected, but this epidemic targets my demographic which is African-American female ages 17-35. So I love the fact that you are willing to help spread awareness more so. Becasue it is so much information out there already, maybe you can try to dig up “Little Known Facts” instead of doing another “lackluster” lecture.
October 13th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
This is a good topic because black women have the highest number of new cases yearly. This is a sensitive topic for many people so instead of condeming or portray the disease as the end of the world try to take the nonjudgment approach. As a tool you should research Marvelyn Brown. She wrote a very inspirational book titled “The Naked Truth”. She is only a few years older than us and she has HIV. You may also want to include how to live with the virus or any other STD after it is contracted.
October 16th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Princess you have a great project in the works. Do you have a school in mind already? A school that is in close proximity to Xavier is Lafayette Charter Academy. I know they have adolescent kids attending the school who could benefit from the program especially when children become sexually active at younger and younger ages. I know they have a volunteer services coordinator named Lynn Loewry who could possibly help you if you decide to volunteer there. They have programs set in place already but I do not know if they will or won’t allow people to construct their own. There is a group that periodically comes on campus called Brotherhood Inc. who could possibly help you as well. I know they come on first and third Friday’s to conduct HIV screening and to disperse HIV pamphlets. They may be able to give you information and may be supplies to use in your project.