Perfect World: Fighting Words
Student Educators Get Involved In Battle Against Hiv/aids

By BRIDGET O'CONNELL
Perfect World editor

AIDS has become an increasingly important issue in the past decade, going from relative obscurity to a disease we all have heard of. Twenty-five percent of people infected with HIV or AIDS are between the ages of 13 and 21. This is a huge problem, because teens often are ill-informed about AIDS and how to prevent it.

RARE-T began in 1987 as an education program for teens at high risk of contracting HIV, mainly in large cities among populations without access to health care or information. Since then, it has become a peer-education program that deals with a wide range of issues surrounding AIDS.

RARE-T is a national program, adopted by the Anchorage School District six years ago. All of the local high schools have a group of trained students, supervised by a faculty member, to teach the RARE-T curriculum to peers.

The program has been successful in Anchorage. In addition to making presentations in their own schools, many groups have spoken at middle and elementary schools, as well as outside groups. Peer trainers from Anchorage have helped teens in the Kenai, Ketchikan, Fairbanks and Mat-Su school districts learn the RARE-T curriculum, and now they have their own groups.

There are many reasons RARE-T is an effective means of educating about HIV/AIDS and related issues. The key aspect of RARE-T is teens teaching other teens, therefore making the message more authentic, and creating a trusting, open atmosphere in which to learn about sensitive issues.

Ebony Evans, a RARE-T educator, said the best part of the program is "Knowing we make a difference ... that kids trust us, and aren't afraid to ask us questions they might not ask an adult."

Ebony has been working with the program for four years and has made presentations at her high school, Bartlett, a few elementary schools and Booth Memorial Home. She believes RARE-T is an essential program because of the number of teens who do not know the facts about HIV/AIDS.

To be RARE-T trainers, students go through an intense two-day conference, where they learn the curriculum and tips on how to present it. Prospective educators from all over the district are broken up into small groups led by two RARE-T educators, who have gone through additional training to teach the educators.

Liz Lewis and Betsy Shelton-Kelley, new RARE-T educators this year, described the training as "... fun and informative. We didn't have any idea how much important information there was."

It is key that the educators know the curriculum well, in order to give information, answer questions and deal with some of the topics that can come up. In addition, educators must be able to adapt to different audiences and age levels, giving them appropriate and interesting information.

The curriculum covers the basic facts about HIV and AIDS, how the immune system works, HIV antibody testing, communication skills, self-esteem, alcohol and drug use, sexual influences and risk reduction. It includes in-depth information, worksheets and ideas for games and activities that educators can do during a presentation. In a typical high school presentation, educators would cover most of the curriculum, whereas presentations for elementary schools are about communication skills and building self-esteem.

Sean Swensen decided he wanted to be a RARE-T educator after seeing a presentation in his health class last year. "I enjoyed the presentation, and I think it's a good thing to teach others about."

Every presentation starts with a set of ground rules that everyone in the class must agree to. This ensures that confidentiality is maintained, and that if a student participating in a presentation is uncomfortable with the material, they are allowed to take a time-out. Educators must be professional and mature about the material they are presenting.

Educators always stress that abstinence is the only way to prevent HIV infection. While they discuss sex, the emphasis is on why people might be pressured into sex before they are ready or end up having sex because of alcohol or drug use. The phrase "safer sex" is used when discussing condoms as the preferred and best method of birth control, because the only truly safe sex is no sex at all.

Presentations usually are made by a pair of educators, who use a variety of methods to get their points across. Posters, flip charts, activities and worksheets are used in combination to ensure that everyone understands not only the facts and definitions of HIV and AIDS, but how they relate to having sex too soon, low self-esteem and drug and alcohol use.

The mission of RARE-T is to lower the rate of teens becoming infected with HIV by showing how poor decision-making, lack of information and other factors can lead to having unprotected sex, and therefore HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. Refusal skills and developing self-esteem are central to fighting the battle with HIV/AIDS among young people.

RARE-T has encountered some controversy in the Anchorage School District, mainly from some parents and Anchorage School Board members who believe the curriculum is not appropriate. The School Board decided last year that educators in RARE-T and high school health classes are no longer able to perform condom demonstrations in front of groups, and that some specific questions about birth control and STDs should be answered on an individual basis, outside of the classroom presentation.

The RARE-T program will continue to educate teens as long as there is a need. Because the percentage of young people contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases is so high, it is obvious that more education is essential. RARE-T educators know they are making a difference in the lives of their peers and that through this information, hopefully more of them will stay healthy and make wise choices.

O'Connell is a senior at Steller Alternative School and a RARE-T presenter.