Subject: Teen-Agers Ignore Dangers of AIDS, Report Contends 
Date: Published: 12/1/88 62 lines
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Teen-Agers Ignore
    Dangers of AIDS,
    Report Contends
    ----  
    By Joe Davidson
    Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

    WASHINGTON -- America's teen-agers know the facts of life
 about AIDS but aren't changing their sexual behavior to avoid
 the fatal disease, according to a report released by the
 Children's Defense Fund.
    "In fact, they overwhelmingly reject the idea of
 abstinence, are skeptical about monogamy and are ambivalent
 about condom use," said Kay Johnson, author of "Teens and
 AIDS:  Opportunities for Prevention."
    Although acquired immune deficiency syndrome has been
 diagnosed in fewer than 1,000 13- to 21-year-olds since it
 was discovered in 1981, the 15,000 cases identified in the
 20-29 age group indicate many in that young adult population
 contracted the ailment during their teen years.  The time
 between initial infection and the onset of the disease
 averages eight years.  "Thus, changing the course of the
 epidemic will require prevention of (AIDS) transmission
 during the teen years," Ms. Johnson said.  "Prevention of AIDS
 cases beyond 1995 must begin now."
    About 80% of males and 70% of females are sexually
 experienced by age 20, according to the study.  Yet, only a
 third of the boys use condoms, which provides an important
 barrier to the transmission of the disease.
    Of the teen-agers who have AIDS, 9% -- that's about twice
 the adult rate -- got it through heterosexual intercourse.
 "They don't know much about heterosexual spread" of the
 disease, Ms. Johnson said in an interview.  Almost half of the
 youths contracted AIDS through homosexual activities and 12%
 of the teen cases were among intravenous drug users.
    The 1.3 million to two million youths who run away from
 home each year represent a special AIDS problem.  "Runaways
 are profoundly disconnected from their families as well as
 other traditional support systems," says the report.  This
 inhibits the transfer of educational material and information
 about AIDS and works to deny runaways access to medical
 services.
    Some runaways are drug users who share needles, which is a
 source of AIDS infection.  "They also are likely to engage in
 unprotected sexual activity and to have been exposed to
 sexual abuse," adds the report.
    The Children's Defense Fund, a private nationwide group
 dedicated to children's issues, urges increased AIDS
 education directed at teen-agers.  Family, school and
 community-based education programs are needed, Ms. Johnson
 said, because "teens perceive very low risk of (AIDS)
 transmission for themselves and are thus unlikely to be
 motivated to change their behavior to avoid exposure."

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