Kids get the facts about sex and HIV

Beth Slovic

Friday, Jan. 28, 2005 | 8:25 a.m.

Ariel Edwards is 12 years old and talks openly to her mother about sex and contraception, even though she's still too embarrassed to talk about boys she may like.

At the office of the nonprofit organization Courage Unlimited -- which assists people with HIV, AIDS and cancer -- an embarrassed Ariel looked at her feet when talk turned to her possible crush.

But Ariel spoke confidently when she asserted she would use a condom when she does have sex. She knows the facts about HIV and AIDS, and she is not afraid to set other children straight when they reveal myths about the virus, she said.

The Clark County School District, where Ariel is a student, teaches an abstinence-only sex education curriculum.

So, much of what Ariel has learned about safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases, she picked up at The Parent-Teen Connection, a program of the HIV Impact and Prevention Project run by Courage Unlimited, a "very fun" program "not at all like school," she said.

On Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Community Center, 3900 Cambridge St., Room 109-110, parents and teens will gather for a workshop addressing many of the health and social issues middle school and high school students confront in their daily lives.

Ariel, along with her mother Cynthia Edwards and her cousin Alexis Sconiers, who is 10, plan to attend the monthly workshop again.

Edwards, who is also a volunteer peer counselor at Courage Unlimited, tested positive for HIV about 14 years ago after contracting the virus from her husband, who has since died of AIDS. None of Edwards' four children contracted the virus from her when they were in her womb.

Saturday's workshop is coordinated by Cheryl Ballard, the project's director, and the public is invited and encouraged to attend for free, she said. The next workshop, with breakfast and lunch included at no charge, will be held on Saturday, Feb. 26, Ballard said.

According to Ballard, half of the 60 million people infected with HIV in the past 20 years were infected when they were between the ages of 15 and 24. And HIV infection is "running rampant in women and youth," Ballard said.

For 12 months Edwards has been bringing Ariel and Alexis to Courage Unlimited's offices. And in that time, the two girls have learned more than many adults have about the symptoms of AIDS and other preventable diseases.

Rolling her eyes up into her head as she recalled the exact differences between Hepititis A and Hepititis B, Alexis rattled off facts about the viral diseases that attack the liver, and then declared one of the only ways to transmit HIV by kissing an infected person -- unless either person has cuts on his or her lips -- would be to transfer "thousands and thousands of gallons of saliva" in the process, inspiring giggles from her cousin and aunt.

"We use scientific terms around here," Edwards joked.

Alexis said she wants to be a doctor or a chef when she grows up and that she enjoys watching the Discovery Health channel.

"I like to know big doctor words," she said.

At Saturday's workshop, Ballard expects to discuss the essay and poster contest organized by the nonprofit group to celebrate Black History Month in February.

It's for any middle school student between the ages of 12 and 15. And participants are asked to submit a 250- to 500-word essay or colored poster explaining what one person from black American history would have done to address the issue of HIV and AIDS or cancer.

First prize is a computer. Second prize is $200 worth of school supplies. And third prize is $100 in school supplies.

For more information about the workshop or the contest, call Courage Unlimited at 702-455-7385.