j----_. - New York Civil Liberties Union

Mahopac 191
HIV RISK BEHAVIORS
SYNOPSIS
The purpose of this activity is to help students apply their knowledge
about HIV transmission and identify which behaviors put them at
greatest risk for exposure to mv. Participants place behaviors on a
continuum of risk, from no risk to risky, and discuss why some
behaviors are more risky than others.
Adolescents need help with understanding that there are no second
chances when it comes to HIV infection.
Because symptoms of HIV infection often do not develop for many
years, adolescents rarely seek testing for the virus. The lack of data
about HIV infection rates is also likely to contribute to teens' views of
themselves as having little risk. Students need to know that about 20
percent of all diagnosed AIDS cases in the United States are people
between the ages of 20 and 29. This implies that most were probably
infected as teens.
Some adolescents fail to recognize their risk for HIV exposure when
they decide to have sex with a steady boyfriend or girlfriend. They
believe they are engaging in low-risk behavior because of information
that having sex with one long-term partner is the next best approach
after abstinence. To adolescents, a steady relationship of six months or
even less may qualify as long-term. Unfortunately, a series of such
relationships does little to protect anyone from contracting HIV.
Many adolescents do not understand the potential impact of drug or
alcohol use on their behavior and fail to recognize such use as a risk
factor for HIV transmission.
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