Yesterday, I spent each period talking about World AIDS Day with my students. I knew it was going to be a challenge because they are young people who do not have a lot of information from outside their island. For the most part my students had at least heard of the disease but that was generally it.
They did not know how the virus is contracted. They did not know the millions of people are infected with the virus. They did not know how many individuals have died because of the virus.
It was quite an eye opening experience for them and me. To be able to tell most of my students that you can't "catch" the virus from shaking someones hands who has the virus was awesome. To tell my students that there are people all over the world who are infected with the virus opened their eyes to the whole world. To be able to have a dialogue with my students about the social stigmas that are associated with AIDS was an experience that I will never forget.
Of course, some of them were very silly about it and thought it was a joking matter. A couple students assumed I have AIDS since I was doing a lesson on the virus. Some of them still believe that students who have HIV should not be allowed to attend schools with students who don't.
I did my best under the circumstances. And I think I succeeded in educating quite a few young minds about HIV/AIDS.
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