By Brian VanNieuwenhoven
 

Bad news. Teens are missing the message about AIDS.

Maybe we think it just can’t happen to us.

Maybe we like to take stupid risks. Or, maybe we’re getting all the wrong messages from adults. Most likely, it’s all of the above.

A new study shows that young people are contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, faster than any other group. Today, a whopping one-half of all new HIV infections in the U.S. hit people who are under 25 years old, according to "Dangerous Inhibitions: How America Is Letting AIDS Become An Epidemic of the Young."

Another newsflash -- this is not a "gay" disease. The infection is growing fastest among young straight women, ages 13 to 19. Of all AIDS cases among teens, girls now make up 46 percent of them, according to the report, published by the Center for AIDS Prevention Studies at the University of California. Most of these girls contracted the virus by having unprotected sex, often with older guys.

Unlike teen girls, guys get HIV by having sex with other men. Gay guys often start to experiment with sex during their teens, almost always without using condoms, the study says.

With all the preaching about safe sex and abstinence, why are teens missing the message? Because there is way too much preaching—and not enough solid information -- going around, says Chris Collins, author of the study.

Teachers and public leaders shy away from talking to teens about sexual issues, he says. When they do discuss AIDS, it’s mostly to push abstinence, Collins explains, adding that scare tactics often turn teens off.

"We need the courage to talk more openly about sexuality: gay sex, straight sex, and specifics on how to use, and insist upon a condom,’’ Collins writes.

Even though more than 80 percent of schools in this country teach facts about AIDS, less than half demonstrate or describe how to use a condom, and only about half give information about where people can get help and counseling, the study shows.

While adults beat around the bush, teens are dying. We need to get real. Too many people have been affected by this terrible plague that is totally preventable. Teens have to start taking responsibility for themselves.

And we, as a society, need to inform everyone how to guard against AIDS. Only then can we save lives.