Dear Editor:
One of the most disturbing aspects of the AIDS crisis is the number of HIV/AIDS cases among our youth.
Young people are among the hardest hit by the disease with an appalling one-fourth of new HIV infections in the United States occurring in the 13-21 year old age group and nearly half of all new infections occurring among those under 25. Furthermore, two thirds of the nation’s 12 million cases of sexually transmitted diseases occur among those under 25, and this has been proven to increase the risk of contracting HIV.
The Jersey City Public Schools has a comprehensive HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum, and we have recently partnered with The Red Cross and medical students from New Jersey Medical School to bolster prevention education. However, I believe it is vital that we develop relationships with the broader community to increase HIV/AIDS prevention education. Providing young people with the knowledge, skills and options to make wise decisions about protecting themselves from HIV and other health risks is a responsibility the entire community, schools, neighborhood groups, social and religious organizations must bear together.
In forming these partnerships, there will be many ideas about how to approach HIV/AIDS education. Some of these ideas will be controversial but a candid dialogue about how to best protect our young men and women is far better than silence which can only lead to the greater danger of HIV infection. We have come a long way in the fight against HIV/AIDS as evidenced by the decreasing number of new infections but we cannot become complacent in this struggle.
The motto of the Surgeon General’s Leadership Campaign on AIDS is “Educate, Motivate, Mobilize.” These words can help guide us in building a united coalition in the fight against HIV/AIDS and other issues which affect our community. I sincerely hope that working together, we can protect our young men and women from a truly preventable disease.
Terrence Curran
Jersey City Board of Education
Chairman of Policy Committee