AIDS education in the schools: a literature review as a guide for curriculum planning

Abstract

As plans for massive public AIDS education grow, pediatricians will become increasingly involved with school systems as consultants and leaders. A review of relevant literature on students' current level of knowledge about AIDS and on educational efforts to date with high-risk groups (homosexuals and intravenous drug users) provides the rationale for school-based AIDS education. Literature describing the approaches used and the impact of programs for sex education, drug abuse prevention, and reduction of prejudice towards the disabled is reviewed to extrapolate that which applies to AIDS education. Important developmental characteristics of adolescents are discussed insofar as they have implications for the planning of AIDS curricula.

PIP: Although there is a lack of sufficient data for the rational development of school-based acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) education programs, trial-and-error experience has suggested several guidelines. Children and adolescents appear to be becoming increasing knowledgeable about AIDS, but important gaps exists, especially about transmission. Work that has been done to date with high-risk groups (e.g., homosexual men) suggests that educational efforts can have a positive effect on reducing dangerous sexual and even drug use practices. This finding provides justification for larger school-based projects, particularly if the AIDS crisis can be made relevant to typical adolescent concerns. Unfortunately, the extensive literature on sex education contains discouraging expectations for behavior change in response to education. Broadly based interventions, in which the education is integrated into a variety of situations and repeated in multiple forms, are more likely to change sexual behavior than brief, encapsulated presentations. Experience with sex education also suggests that parental involvement with the AIDS curriculum may increase its effectiveness. Extrapolation from efforts at drug abuse prevention suggests that a direct emphasis on providing students with coping skills will be more effective than merely discussing or teaching about AIDS. Students can be helped to clarify their own attitudes toward sexuality, understand the decisions that flow from these beliefs, weigh the risks and benefits of their decisions, and learn ways to reduce the risk of AIDS if they choose to be sexually active. Since school children are likely to have to deal with a classmate who is positive for antibodies to the AIDS virus, altering prejudices and stigmas is another important goal. An understanding of the developmental psychology of childhood and adolescence should underlie all AIDS curricula.