Each year, the American Association for World Health (AAWH) publishes the World AIDS Day Resource Booklet and poster in order to provide grass-roots organizations across the country with the basic tools for implementing HIV/AIDS awareness and education programs. Once educators and community leaders have been given both the information and innovative ways to incorporate it, they can begin to improve the health of our nation.

Focusing the 1998 World AIDS Day initiative on 15- to 24-year-olds, AAWH hopes to not only educate young people on the AIDS pandemic but also to invite them to become a "force" for changing its course. By implementing HIV education and prevention efforts that focus on involving young people rather than simply informing them, community leaders can help ensure that future generations are well-equipped to tackle the challenges presented by this disease.

Get Motivated, Get Educated! is a guide that serves to inspire leaders and educators to incorporate HIV/AIDS awareness messages into every young adult's education. The ideas listed below challenge 15- to 24-year-olds to use their creativity to inform themselves and their peers about the AIDS pandemic. World AIDS Day activities can be implemented into every area of the curriculum -- all the suggestions mentioned can be adapted to suit the age of the students or the topic of any course. By engaging young adults in discussions and allowing them to candidly express themselves, we are not only encouraging them to enjoy their education, but also introducing them to issues that are imperative to their health.

Get High School Students Motivated By...

"My HIV/AIDS work has made me aware of who I am, and what I can do to change attitudes and, hopefully, people's behavior."

-- A 12-year-old girl living with HIV in Newark, New Jersey

• sponsoring a school-wide video competition. Encourage students to produce an original home-video, 3-5 minutes in length, that teaches other students facts about HIV/AIDS. Establish a deadline and once all entries have been entered, select one winner from each grade. Organize an assembly that will serve to heighten HIV awareness among the students and show the films made by each of the four winners (grades 9Ð12).

• asking art classes to work together to create an enormous collage or mural commemorating World AIDS Day.

• having student government representatives from each grade compete to find the most unique way to commemorate World AIDS Day. Some ideas they could adopt to heighten HIV awareness around school include decorating bulletin boards or designing fact sheets to distribute on lunch trays or in hallways.

• asking athletic directors and coaches to encourage all student athletes to wear red AIDS awareness ribbons on their uniform jerseys.

• locating a local AIDS service organization and inviting all students to assist that organization...and get creative with the way students can help!

  1. Vocational-Tech students could offer their services (repairing, installing, building) to the organization.

  2. Home Economics students could sell baked goods or red ribbons during lunch periods to raise money for the organization.

  3. Any student could simply be encouraged to volunteer his/her time to work at the organization; many high schools require students to fulfill a community service requirement.

Get College Students Motivated

Around Campus:

• Campus organizations -- such as sororities and fraternities, service organizations, or other student groups -- can volunteer their time to or plan fund-raising events for an AIDS service organization.

  Some creative ways to raise funds include:

  • hosting charity softball/baseball games

  • organizing clothing and furniture drives for local AIDS hospice

  • planning musical performances and donating the proceeds to the organization.

In the Classroom:

All classes

"I decided to work in HIV/AIDS because I found more and more of my friends were having casual and unprotected sex. I never counted on the ignorance of people and their unwillingness to realize the truth. Perhaps I was a bit ignorant myself, believing that everyone was as open-minded as I am."

-- An 18-year-old young woman from Sumner, Washington

1. Professors can assign their students a paper that focuses on the impact of HIV/AIDS. Students can tailor the thesis of their paper to combine HIV/AIDS issues and the topic of the course. Encourage the students to find their own link between the course material and the disease. For example:

   • Business classes could focus on the economic impact that HIV/AIDS drug therapies have had on health care.

   • Sociology, women's studies, or Racial/Ethnic minorities studies classes could discuss the disparities of HIV education, testing, and treatment among various socioeconomic classes.

   • Political Science or Pre-Law students could cover the various legal issues surrounding HIV/AIDS, such as confidentiality, substance abuse and needle exchange programs, and employment issues.

2. Ask students to design T-shirts that promote AIDS awareness around campus. Then, offer incentives for students willing to go one step farther! Encourage them to print and sell their shirts, donating the money to AIDS organizations.

Art Classes

Encourage all art students to use art (paintings, sculptures, collages, etc.) to creatively express some aspect of the AIDS pandemic or to create an HIV awareness message. Once the students have finished their projects, arrange all of them into an art exhibit commemorating World AIDS Day.

Film and Theater Classes

Allowing the students as much freedom as possible, ask them to create a short commercial or skit to educate their peers about some of the more personal issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. Ideas for these short films and skits could include: how to encourage respect and support for people infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS, the story of a person living with AIDS, or a young adult telling his/her partner about being HIV positive.

Communications Classes

Professors could challenge each student to write a public service announcement (PSA) that would inform the student body about pertinent HIV/AIDS issues in a innovative manner. Offer extra credit for any student who has their PSA read on the campus radio station.

Open Discussions on HIV/AIDS

In addition to offering educators and group leaders an opportunity to initiate HIV-related activities for young adults, World AIDS Day also allows teachers and students a venue to openly discuss HIV/AIDS. Although it is crucial that young adults are given accurate information about the disease, discussions about the AIDS pandemic should not be lectures! Instead of talking at students, involve them in the discussion. Allow all the young adults to candidly express their views, without being criticized or condemned, and then attempt to clear up any misconceptions they may have. Conversation can only be effective when young people are encouraged to be completely honest.

Questions and topics to explore

1. Ask your students to discuss whether or not the mode of HIV transmission impacts the respect and/or sympathy they feel for a person with HIV/AIDS.

2. Why do they think disparities in HIV infection rates exist among demographic groups?

3. Who is at risk of being infected with HIV? Who is not? Are you?

4. Discuss AIDS drug treatment therapies. Do students believe a vaccine or a cure for HIV/AIDS exists?

5. Hold a discussion on the proper use of condoms. Possible questions and topics include:

   • How long into a relationship is it necessary to wear condoms?

   • Should condoms stop being used when women begin alternative birth-control methods?

   • How do you tell your partner he must wear a condom?

   • Why don't women carry condoms as frequently as men?

   • Have your students explain "consistent and correct" condom use.

   • (to think about) Have you been tested for HIV? Do you know if your partner has ever been tested?

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