Danbury-Based Youth HIV/AIDS Conference Debunks Myths, Promotes Prevention

About 120 students from five area high schools learned about HIV/AIDS prevention at the recent 14th annual "Youth Reacting to AIDS Youth Empowerment Conference" at Western Connecticut State University. The Interfaith AIDS Ministry sponsored the conference, which was supported with a grant from the United Way of Western Connecticut.

Being young is not a free pass against contracting HIV, said Wesley Moreno, a 21-year old conference speaker who was born with the virus. Teens have a choice, he said: Abstinence is 100 percent effective, but otherwise people must use a condom during sex. "I didn't have that choice," Moreno added.

HIV prevention education is a matter of social justice, said Eric Garrison, an international sex education consultant and conference keynote speaker. All people -- regardless of gender, sexual orientation or religion -- have a right to make healthy choices, he said. Staying silent in order not to offend those in power is unacceptable, Garrison said. Improved AIDS treatments have a high cost, up to $25,000 a year, and can cause many side effects.

In one conference seminar, teens sought to create prevention messages through the creative arts. One group of teens devised a rap about staying HIV-free: Its refrain declared, "HIV is not for me."

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