by Diana L. Hynson
AIDS is a killer. Teens are being infected with HIV at an alarming rate. To date there is no cure. We have known for over a decade how the disease is transmitted. Still there are so many new cases. Why, when we know how to catch it and how not to catch it, are persons being infected with HIV? Ignorance, inadequate education, apathy, denial, mythical thinking are a few reasons for the high incidence of teenage infections.
Where Is the Church?
Christians believe that persons are inherently valuable; that life is sacred; that patience, forbearance, and self-control are fruits of the Spirit; and that speaking the truth to each other in love is an obligation. We have ministered faithfully and intelligently to countless persons who have been infected with and died from the complications of AIDS.
We need to maintain a faithful ministry of compassion and education before and after persons become ill. But we have not always been able to do honest education about HIV transmission. We have sometimes preferred ignorance and denial (and even judgment) to honesty and forthrightness.
One reason for our struggles over whether and how to provide AIDS education for teens has to do with the taboo nature of two of the modes of transmission of HIV--sex and drugs. Some church persons have turned to the single message of abstinence. While abstinence is important, we need to avoid the trap of thinking that such a message is sufficient. It isn't.
Another common response to confronting the need for AIDS education for teens is denial. "That sort of stuff doesn't go on here; not with our kids" can be a deadly form of denial. "Good kids" experiment with risky behaviors. We need to face that honestly. Teenagers are sexually active, including youth in our churches. Some may
try drugs.
The United Methodist Church, as a denomination and as individual members, is not content to sit back, watch persons become infected, and do nothing. We cherish life too much. We are a redemptive, saving community. But we have more to do,
especially with teens.
What About Today's Teens?
Today's young people have received a lot of press; much of it bad. They have been called the Lost Generation, Generation X (no name needed!), the Throwaway Generation, a generation of losers and cynics. While these unkind labels may describe some teens, it is neither fair nor accurate to lump 12 to 25-year-olds in a single category and think we understand them.
If we are to do preventive education with teens, we must understand something about them. Older teenagers, as a generation, have inherited a world gone awry. They feel intensely betrayed by the global mess left by older generations. They have been raised in a permissive societal structure that has in many ways denied them and blamed them at the same time. The educational arena has been a key area where this no-win scene is played. Consequently, many older teens live out a survival mentality.
"What works" is a basic value for these teens. They may think that Christian values of ministry and service are too altruistic as they try to figure out how to live with the mess someone else dumped on them. They value what feels good at the moment because they have dim hope for the future. Idealism has to wait.
Many teens feel immortal. They think nothing could possibly happen to them (mythical thinking) but at the same time are fearful about the future. This fear takes several forms, including the fear that a parent will die. Although the thought of someone else's death is disconcerting, many teens have little concern about their own death, at least due to illness and the consequences of at-risk behavior. In contrast, many teens in violent urban environments believe they will not live to age 25.
A fatalistic attitude or apathy about the future is a breeding ground for participation in at-risk behaviors. For girls who get pregnant to have a baby, who will "love me unconditionally", abstinence is not even an issue. For these girls, condom use is not relevant. Likewise, using drugs as a means of escape or relief is much more important than where a needle came from and whether it was bleached clean. When "now" is the most important thing, education and planning ahead fall by the wayside.
Younger teens are more idealistic, order-oriented, trusting of institutions. In significant ways, they are more like the generation of their grandparents in the Civic Generation--those persons now in their late sixties and seventies.
These characterizations are general and superficial at best but illustrate that there is no one-size-fits-all definition of teenagers. Couple that with the generational differences of adults who are called to teach and lead teens, and you can see how complicated such a diverse ministry of education can be.
When it comes to teaching, many of us are back in what teens must regard as the horse-and-buggy days of sit-down classes, lecture presentations, student workbooks. Most teens want more, especially since they get more almost everywhere except in the traditional educational models of the church. Many teens, for example, are more oriented to visual and narrative forms of communication. Reading print material is decidedly unappealing. Interactive video and story forms capture their attention.
Should the Church Be Teaching?
United Methodists should be teaching teens about HIV/AIDS. The Book of Discipline charges the church with the responsibility of sexuality education, which information about AIDS.
Only the church can teach teenagers about AIDS in a biblical and theological context. The context of youth fellowship groups or small group ministry offers an easy entry for topical studies. But not all education happens in a formal setting; some occurs in the hallway, some on the way to a youth event, some on the phone in the midst of another conversation. Kids can catch us off guard! Any adult could be asked for help or information.
Working with youth is challenging. We have a special obligation to honor the ministry of education and our young people by encouraging and nurturing those adults whom God calls to work with youth. In addition to a calling, adult workers should have certain basic qualities and skills to be effective with HIV/AIDS education of teens.
What Do Adult Workers with Youth Need to Be Ready to Teach?
* Commitment to growth and understanding
Imagine yourself as an adult friend to youth who may assume the role of formal or informal teacher about HIV/AIDS. Perhaps the first requisite is a commitment to personal growth and understanding, your own as well as the youth's. An adult worker with youth must first deal with his or her own feelings about relationships, life, death, sex and drugs.
If you have not thought about your own mortality, you are not adequately prepared to talk about a disease that is fatal. Put yourself in the position of someone who has a fatal disease. Ask yourself these questions: "Have I made a will? Have I thought about the impact of physical, psychological, and relational losses will have on the quality of my life as my disease progresses? Have I thought about the pain of diagnosis and the fear of having to tell someone that I have a fatal disease? Have I contemplated the reaction of the people with whom I work, play, attend church, and live? Will they reject me? Support me? Judge me?" What would you do in any of those circumstances?"
Explore how you feel about sex. Do you feel sex is a good gift from God that is meant to be practiced lovingly and responsibly, or is sex something dirty that is talked about only in hushed tones? Can you discuss sex and sexuality both
objectively and relationally? Are you comfortable with your own sexuality and the way you live out your sexuality? Can you cope with a conversation that may get a bit more "earthy" than you would like? Are you able to help interpret to each gender the different ways males and females regard sexuality and sexual behavior? Can you encourage and teach responsible sexual behavior without shutting down the conversation with someone who may be sexually active? Do you know the facts about AIDS, HIV, and other STDs?
Ask yourself the same kinds of questions about drug use. Could a teen admit that he or she has experimented, or even has a drug habit? Do you recognize the signs of drug use so you can be aware of and sensitive to a teen who uses drugs? Are you aware of the personal and community resources that provide help?
*Establishing trust
Establishing a climate of trust and confidentiality is crucial if there is to be any honest discourse and education about HIV/AIDS. A fundamental role the church can play in any ministry is to be a place of trust and openness. Teens need adults who keep the lines open and are good listeners. If it's okay to talk about drugs and sex and at-risk behaviors in the church, then we demonstrate ourselves as the true Body of Christ, where love and justice abound.
If we are to offer guidance and support in a Christian context, we need to hold judgment in abeyance. A teen who expects to be judged and found wanting will not confide or ask questions. A youth whose confidence has been betrayed, even in the most minor way, will be quite reluctant to reestablish trust. This does not mean, of course, that anything goes. Support and accountability go together, but judgmentalism and inflexibility will turn off a teenager in a hurry. Then all chance of conversation, education, and commitment is lost.
* Keeping confidences but not secrets
There's a big difference between keeping a confidence and keeping a secret. Private comments, attitudes, and thoughts that are not intended for other audiences need to be kept private, provided that the confidentiality is not dangerous or illegal.
When a teen indicates he or she needs time for a private conversation, clarify before the fact that you can't and won't make promises about confidentiality that you can't keep. If a teen admits to engaging in serious at-risk behavior, he or she needs help, perhaps professional intervention. In some instances, you may be legally obligated to report what you know to the appropriate authorities, particularly in cases of violence, such as child abuse. All adults who work with youth need to be familiar with state laws about disclosure and mandated reporting.
What Should the Church Teach?
When doing HIV/AIDS education within a religious context, we have a better opportunity to put it within a more holistic context of bodily, emotional, and spiritual health. We can talk about the Bible, theology, ministry, Christian ethics. We must know the facts about HIV/AIDS. We may have to spend some extra time reviewing material in the Bible, books about HIV/AIDS and the religious community, and United Methodist perspectives on human sexuality and HIV/AIDS in the Social Principles and The Book of Resolutions. The church should teach:
* Biblical and theological foundations
AIDS and STDs are not mentioned in the Bible but diseases and personal and religious treatment of persons who are sick are. Also the Bible, through its
emphasis on the Great Commandments of love of God, self and others gives a
foundation on where to begin with sexual ethics.
The Bible reveals a number of different attitudes and responses to sickness,
including sickness as a punishment of sin from God, sickness being caused by
Satan, sickness as a path toward healing of self and even others, sickness which
demands a loving nonjudgmental response from the religious community, and
sickness that just is, with no apparent source. Too often, religious people have
viewed sickness, and therefore AIDS, as a punishment from God. The United
Methodist Church has taken a stand which is more consistent with Jesus' approach to sickness, which was compassion, not condemnation. In Matthew 25, Jesus clearly teaches that those who are God's followers visit the sick, care for them.
Hospitality, not hostility, toward persons with AIDS is a key response. Some have called persons with HIV the "lepers" of our day. The Bible records how poorly lepers were treated, until Jesus came. Mark 1:40-45 relates the story of Jesus touching and healing a leper. (See also Matthew 8:2-4 and Luke 5:12-16.) As we teach teens about AIDS, we must remember that ministry to and about the "untouchables" of society formed the core of Jesus' ministry.
* Abstinence and more
Sexuality is not simply about sex and whether or not one is sexually active or abstinent. The Social Principles in The Book of Discipline of The United
Methodist Church (Par. 71F) gives a brief statement about "God's good gift to all persons." The principles also take the stance that "sexual relations are only clearly affirmed in the marriage bond." It speaks against exploitive sex, which can happen inside and outside of marriage.
Abstinence is a crucial message for teens, and more are taking this option seriously, avoiding premarital sex and unprotected sex. To think this message is sufficient, however, is simplistic for several reasons. First, virgins can become HIV-infected through using an infected hypodermic needle. Two virgins can know each others' sexual history and not be out of danger of infection.
Second, not all teens, including teens in the church, wait until marriage to have sex. These teens need to know all about HIV/AIDS and the safest ways to have sex. Ultimately, the decision to engage in sexual behavior is up to the youth. The church should teach abstinence, but we protect our teens best when we offer the most comprehensive education we can, including use of condoms and their limitations.
Third, teens may believe that if they have protected sex, they will be safe. While condoms are probably the best protection, if used properly each and every time, the virus could penetrate the condom wall if there is a small hole. And teens caught in the clutches of raging hormones don't always use condoms properly, if at all. Honest education about all potential behaviors and their risks is essential.
The basic argument applies in the case of drug use as well. The church appropriately teaches abstinence from illegal drug use (The Social Principles, Par. 72I), but some teens ignore that lesson also. Rather than judge or ignore them, we need to provide comprehensive education about the potential consequences of drug usage and where to go for help.
When HIV/AIDS education is provided in an open, flexible, nonjudgmental
environment, and we model healthy behaviors and attitudes, we minister responsibly to our teens.
How Should We Teach?
Through the school system, youth have experienced multimedia teaching/learning techniques-- computers, videos, and other creative methods. Since many youth are more visually oriented, rather than print oriented, we should offer options as creative as possible, such as simulation games, case studies with open-ended situations that teens find relevant, and action-reflection activities.
The first volume, AIDS, in the To the Point: Confronting Youth
Issues series published by Abingdon Press offers easy-to-use teaching articles
and ready-to-go programs on AIDS education. In addition, that resource provides a helpful section "When Someone Comes to You" that gives information to adult workers with youth on how to prepare for pastoral ministry to teenagers.
For a detailed list of helpful teaching methods, see the Focus Paper 28.
To the Point: AIDS is available from Cokesbury. Call 1-800-672-1789.
