Just a little note:Before I started on this blog I just wanted to apologize for missing last weeks blog. I was hospitalized after I found out I had leukemia. I am still in the hospital trying to kick this cancers butt but hopefully I should be out soon, and now that I have a schedule here school is no longer really a problem.
This week in class: This week in class the question of the week was talking about how what if your HIV child bit another child what w0uld you do? It is crazy to think about how much more the parent of an HIV positive child has to worry. Your child cant really be a child and has to grow up a lot faster because they have to worry about not doing things like this which is really sad. And then you have to think about when a situation does arise and you alert the parents. How are the parents going to react? Is your child going to have to switch schools? Is he/she going to be treated differently because of their illness? Its saddens me to think of all the things that could go wrong in a small situation of just a child biting another child.
On another note: Because we are college students I thought that it would be interesting to talk a little bit about HIV/AIDS and college students. While researching and looking over various sites I realized a couple of things in particular about college students as a whole. A lot of college students engage in risky behavior and don't even really know it. Factors such as peer pressure. drugs and alcohol greatly increase these risky behaviors. Many people who would not normally consent to unprotected sex according to center for disease control and prevention under the influence would end up having unprotected sex, which then leads to a whole string of other issues such as HIV/AIDS, pregnancy, STD's, STI's etc. I wanted to get a little bit more information so I dug up some more information and found out the the University of Central Florida did an assessment of risky behaviors in students. One part of the assessment was a knowledge test. The knowledge test was a simple test asking questions about risky behaviors, sexually transmitted infections, and pregnancy. 64 percent of the students who took this assessment recieved a D which is a failing grade on the test. After reading about this I was a little worried about the standards of students on our campus but UCF quickly redeeemed itself. Even though a good number of people expected their partners to have protection, a good number of people in the study said they carried protection, and even more said that they would stop sexual intercourse if their was no condomn present. This shows that people have started being more responsible when it comes to risky behaviors.
Cites:
(1995). Hiv and college students. Retrieved from http://www.aegis.com/pubs/Cdc_Fact_sheets/1995/CPATH003.html
Melissa Castora. (Spring 2005). The Assessment of university students' knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors toward sex. University of Central Florida- Undergraduate Research Journal, 1(1), Retrieved from http://www.urj.ucf.edu/vol1issue1/castora/index.php
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Just wanted to let you know that I read your blog and am sorry to hear you are in the hospital and dealing with leukemia. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers if this is ok.
ReplyDeleteA grade of D seems very bad in my book! I hope UCF students really practice safe sex like they are saying! On a side note, I'm wishing you all the best in your medical process. My thoughts are with you.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your medical condition. I hope you get well soon. I admire your strong attitude! You're in my thoughts and prayers. You had a really good blog. It's scary to know that UCF students are failing knowledge tests on sexual questions. It was a relief to know that they carry their own protection and refuse to have unprotected sex. The QOTW had me asking myself many questions as well.
ReplyDeleteYou know I completely agree with you, and being a college student and living the normal college life such as going to parties and etc. I have seen first hand how some college students act in the moment. They participate in risky behaviors and believe that certain things just wont happen to them such as pregnancy, getting STDs, and obtaining HIV. They believe that they are some kind of invincible human that just does not get those kinds of things. I believe that there should be a health class that is mandatory for all college kids. In the class the instructor will lecture about sex, HIV, pregnancy, and etc. that maybe some kids do not have enough information on. I think a class like this could be extremely helpful.
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your health problem and I know you will kick that leukemias butt! My thoughts and prayers go out for you and I sincerely wish you the best. I agree that it is sad that parents who have a child with this illness have to worry about their child being discriminated against and not being able to grow like a child should (growing up happy and with no limitations). This question is very difficult to answer but I would go the route of telling the other parents about the bite mark though because I would feel guilty not mentioning it to them.
ReplyDeletehi. i am the author of the cited article (i googled my own name and came across your blog). i am glad that someone has dug up my article and found it useful. it was a VERY interesting study that i would have liked to continue but was advised to pursue more "marketable" topics... please let me know if you have any questions about the study. i'd be happy to share. -melissa castora-binkely
ReplyDelete