"Dr. John" Chittick and TeenAIDS-PeerCorps
Dr. John Chittick, executive director of TeenAIDS-PeerCorps, is now walking on five continents to bring the message of youth HIV/AIDS to young people everywhere. He is walking on city streets and rural roads in 21 countries to train 25,000 teachers to help their friends and countrymen. You can follow his journey on our internet site and see and hear youth talking about AIDS prevention in other countries. MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) is operating the overseas communications with "Dr. John" and the world wide web (internet). Dr. Chittick is a Doctor of Education from Harvard University who believes in taking the medical facts of HIV/AIDS directly to teenagers wherever they live, work, study, vacation or travel. He predicted a new outbreak of teenagers infected with HIV in his major doctoral research book, "Adolescents and AIDS: The Third Wave" (Harvard University, 1993-94).
TeenAIDS epidemic is increasing worldwide.
Despite media press accounts that seem optimistic about new drugs, Dr. Chittick reminds his young audiences that scientists and medical experts have not yet found a cure or vaccine to prevent HIV/AIDS, despite years of work and billions of dollars spent. Even the best, new medicines are proving only partly effective in slowing the start of AIDS and they are very expensive (almost $20,000 US each year). HIV hides in the body for as long as five or ten years before it becomes AIDS and kills the person.
"We're 19 years into this global epidemic and huge increases are being reported in the number of young people who are infected with HIV. The problem is that most youth do not know they are HIV-positive because they never get tested," says Chittick. "Also, adolescents feel invincible that nothing can hurt them. Teenagers believe they are not vulnerable to an adult problem like AIDS, yet they want to behave like adults. Many teens tell me they enjoy sex at earlier ages and more frequently than studies have suggested. Unfortunately, a lot of teenagers do not realize that unprotected sex is dangerous or that sharing drugs using needles can transmit HIV from the blood of another person. Tragically, too many adolescents don't believe AIDS affects them or their friends."
At Harvard University where Chittick began his research in 1988 on issues of AIDS education in schools and youth, he understood that a new and more dangerous epidemic of HIV/AIDS would target youth, especially sexually-active teens and drug users with needle sharing. Recent reports from UNAIDS and other respected studies suggest that a TeenAIDS epidemic is now happening: 50% of all new cases of HIV worldwide are occurring in youth ages 10 to 24. In America, one out of every four new cases of HIV occurs in teenagers between the ages of 13 to 19 years old. Ten years ago, the numbers were probably one out of 10,000. These are shocking new numbers! Increases in sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) are even greater and often provide the path for HIV to enter a person's blood.
Due to young people's desire to find good paying jobs, better living conditions, greater education opportunities, or relief from war or political and religious persecution, many youth are traveling more than ever before. Teenagers and young adults are migrating from rural areas to cities and immigrating to other countries. They are meeting new friends and having sex with these partners. As a result, new and stronger strains of HIV are now developing. These more powerful and dangerous forms of HIV and AIDS are being transmitted around the globe in the time it takes an airplane to fly.
"The truth is there is no cure! The only true prevention is AIDS education," Chittick explains, "and it must be based on true medical facts. Adults cannot fool young people with lies. They are too smart. If they choose to have sex because they like the feeling, it is important to explain how to make sex safer for them."
Although "safer sex" practices like condoms are not a 100% guarantee of safety (condoms vary in quality and a few sometimes break). Chittick tells teens, "If you know of a friend who is having sex or are taking drugs using needles, tell them about the truth about the dangers of AIDS. If they still choose to have sex, tell them that condoms are safer than unprotected sex."
Dr. Chittick stresses the message of personal responsibility and peer education to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS among youth. He also warns, "Adults who think teens are not having sex are not being realistic. It is better to prepare your maturing teen for the peer pressure that exists in society than to ignore a growing problem that could cut short your child's life."
TeenAIDS is a reality for all sexually-active adolescents. It is increasing in every country and on every continent. That is why Dr. Chittick is walking to train young people to be teachers of AIDS prevention to their peers.
PeerCorps: What it is
"Peer education" is best described as teenagers teaching their friends and classmates about AIDS prevention. Most youth find it difficult to discuss sex with adults, parents and teachers. They prefer to discuss intimate details of love and sex with people their own age. Dr. Chittick developed his educational training techniques at Harvard University. He calls his program, "PeerCorps" because it is similar to the concept of "Peace Corps" set up by U.S. President John F. Kennedy that sent young people into foreign lands to offer assistance and education. However, PeerCorps is a voluntary program that is not government-run. It is devoted to helping teenagers pass the news about HIV and AIDS among their generation -- to save the lives of family, friends and neighbors.
Peer education has become increasingly popular in curbing high risk activities among young people. In America and Europe, school-sponsored programs have been designed to stop drunk driving, drug abuse and youth violence. Often these messages have been successful in convincing youth to avoid risky behaviors and unsafe practices. Yet these programs are designed to target "immediate" events in the lives of teens -- not a problem like AIDS where many years pass before HIV infection turns into AIDS. Because a teen can have HIV and not know it, their ignorance poses a grave danger for their sex partners. You cannot "see" HIV, the virus, until it becomes AIDS, the diseases. So effective AIDS prevention efforts must use the PeerCorps model if teens are to be persuaded to avoid risky behaviors over many years they are sexually active or until they marry and are monogamous. That is why Dr. Chittick's PeerCorps training is working in different cultures worldwide.
We know that teens prefer talking about private, personal subjects with their best friends. Yet this kind of discussion poses problems in this age of TeenAIDS because many young people do not know the accurate medical facts about HIV transmission. They are not doctors or scientists. But they can learn the true facts from experts like Dr. John and from PeerCorps teachers. Because many adults do not like to talk about teen sexuality, older people often choose to keep silent, hoping their children will neither hear about nor experiment with sex.
Chittick warns, "Silence can kill. We don't want history to keep repeating itself. If we don't talk about the danger of AIDS with our youth, then your children could get HIV and die from AIDS. What is worse? To talk about the risks of sex or see teenagers die from an entirely avoidable virus? Adults should protect youth -- not make the problem worse."
Perhaps the single most crucial factor in young people getting HIV/AIDS is the peer pressure of other youth who convince friends to experiment with sex and drugs using needles. Rarely does a teen know enough about accurate medical information to warn friends about AIDS and how using condoms can prevent HIV. Dr. Chittick says, "First, youth must be told of the AIDS danger; second, they must learn the medical facts; third, they have to be empowered to carry the message to their family and friends." In this way, the prevention message spreads from one friend to another and a generation of young people can be saved. It's a simple idea but one that works. Old teaching methods do not work when adults lecture youth to not be "bad" but do not give all the complete information so teenagers can choose to protect themselves. Youth must know why it is necessary to avoid dangerous behaviors and practice "safer" sex.
Teenagers say they like the way Dr. John walks among them and talks in a professional and friendly manner. He is clear about saying, "No sex = no AIDS. No shared needles = no AIDS. These are the medical facts. But if you know a friend who chooses to have unprotected sex or shares needles, tell them the truth by explaining how HIV is transmitted from one person to their partner and how to avoid or at the least, minimize the risk. It is your responsibility to save yourselves and your friends."
If invited, Dr. Chittick will consider coming to your country to talk about TeenAIDS and train PeerCorps teachers. You can help now by telling your friends and local schools about this internet site. You can also email questions to Dr. John and his trained team of teens for confidential answers about sex, dating, drug use, and HIV/AIDS. You can freely download anything from this internet site. Please help us and your friends by translating this information into your own language. Perhaps you have a story to tell? We need both the English translation and your copy to post it on the internet.
Dr. John Chittick is currently walking in 21 countries around the world to train teenagers. You can follow his journey by clicking here. Thank you and always be safe and smart.
Our mission is to educate teenagers about the spread of HIV/AIDS and train them to be teachers to their peers. One life saved may be a teenager you know.
Help us spread the news to teenagers in America and worldwide about the increasing threat of teen AIDS (in the USA, 25% of all new cases are among teens, 13 to 19).
Join with us in our mission to reach 25,000 youth directly through a series of Walks on five continents in areas where HIV is growing and prevention education is limited or non-existent.
Support our worldwide outreach through the largest educational internet site devoted entirely to teens and AIDS issues, and run by MIT's Media Lab: teenaids.org
TeenAIDS-PeerCorps, Inc. is unique among non-profit organizations. Our goal is to educate and empower teens to take the Stop AIDS message to their peers. In January, 1999, our executive director, Dr. John B. Chittick, is leaving Boston to Walk in 15 developing countries and U.S. cities and suburbs. He will travel on foot to personally meet with youth in crowded urban neighborhoods, small towns and remote rural areas.
Experienced in this kind of direct street outreach, "Dr. John" (as he is known to teens wherever he goes) stresses medical information and personal responsibility. The message is based on his pioneering research at Harvard University with adolescents and AIDS education. Our training programs are more effective than traditional school instruction and government campaigns because teens are instrumental in the design and delivery of the important message.
Teenagers react positively to Dr. John's friendly personality and caring approach. At first, they are surprised he has come to visit them personally. "Why us?" teens in a poor ghetto will ask. "Because you need to know the truth about a new danger facing you and your friends," he answers. When Dr. John talks, kids listen. Even more importantly, they feel empowered to carry the message to their peers. In this way, the AIDS prevention news spreads widely and effectively. Yet Dr. John is only one person and our young organization is designed to operate efficiently with limited overhead. So we offer teens and schools everywhere free access to our training materials and Dr. John's counsel through the power of the internet. Currently, we run the world's most comprehensive site devoted entirely to adolescent AIDS issues. Potentially, either in person or by the internet, any teenager can learn how to prevent HIV -- and how to persuade their friends to avoid teen AIDS.
We need your help to fulfill this important mission. You can support the Walks and our internet outreach by making a donation to our tax-exempt organization.
are planned for areas where HIV is spreading rapidly among youth and there is still time for effective training programs to make a life-saving difference. In various regions, HIV may be transmitted through casual sexual contact; or the commercial sex trade using young adolescents; by the sharing of dirty needles for injecting drug use; and through contaminated tattooing and body-piercing paraphernalia. Some teens choose to take risks because they feel invincible. Other teenagers are forced to make difficult choices because of the instinct to survive.
Other Walks are still in the planning stages for the year 2000 in northwest Brazil along the Amazon River (partly by boat), December to February -- the Indian sub-continent, March to May, 2000 -- and eastern Africa, May to June, 2000.
This series of global walks will end at the XIII International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa, July, 2000, where Dr. Chittick will present original research findings and speak on his global experiences talking with teenagers.
* Specific plans in the timing and location of some Walks could change depending on U.S. State Department advisories regarding regional and political conflicts affecting the safety of American travelers. Additionally, Dr. Chittick will consider other Walk sites when donors can provide the necessary funding. Please contact us.