California: UCLA Peer Educators Take on AIDS at Area High Schools

The UCLA Black/Latino AIDS Project sends UCLA students on site visits to inner-city high schools across Los Angeles to educate students about HIV/AIDS and safe sex. The project targets blacks and Latinos because, according to CDC, HIV/AIDS disproportionately affects these populations nationwide.

The project makes more than a dozen site visits every year. One presentation, designed for high school freshmen taking a Los Angeles Unified School District-mandated health class, includes information about HIV/AIDS, STDs, safe-sex practices, and a segment on the importance of going to college. The project recently conducted a training session with students from Crossroads High School, a private Santa Monica school, teaching them to visit other high schools and educate their peers.

The project hands out information packets but is barred by the school district from giving out condoms on campuses, according to Ashley Fonseca, a co-director. Fonseca noticed a discrepancy in HIV/AIDS awareness among schools, noting that Crossroads students seemed knowledgeable while students at inner-city high schools knew less and were more apt to believe the myths surrounding the virus and other STDs.

Back to other news for February 21, 2006