Papers are fun! Here's the conclusion and recommendation section of my most recent paper. Stay tuned for my position paper that will support my recommendation.
Conclusion
Many of the articles available in the discourse community on HIV/AIDS prevention education have some tinge of emotional language. Articles published in popular sources are the most at risk for such language. Journals seem to be the most credible sources for information on HIV/AIDS prevention, but even these studies fall short in being able to provide a clear-cut example of a type of prevention education that works. This is a clue that one sort of education, such as abstinence education, cannot be relied on to prevent the spread of HIV. Many factors go into what makes a prevention program work, from the cultural context to the funding available. Unfortunately, sometimes the funding will not allow the information to be disseminated in a culturally significant way- leaving some of the worlds population most at risk for HIV infection behind.
Recommendations
HIV/AIDS prevention education should be presented in a culturally significant manner. The audience is extremely important. Abstinence until marriage education cannot be presented to members of the gay community as the way to effectively prevent HIV transmission. This is not culturally significant considering that gay marriage is not legal in most states. In addition, it is important to remember the youth; those people who are still in high school. Knowing that 48% of high school students have had sex (Miller & Whitaker, 2001) it would be ignorant to teach these students abstinence education alone.
I believe information should be free to all people. If there is information on how to use condoms, then let the people know this information. There is no empirical evidence that condom education increases the spread of HIV. In fact, most studies show that condom education aids in decreasing the spread of HIV. This being the case, it is important to take each element of the A,B,C (abstinence, be faithful, condoms) approach as an equally important factor in HIV/AIDS prevention. I would rather know that the people of the world have more information, than too little information. In this life and death situation, knowledge is the answer to preserving life.
Conclusion
Many of the articles available in the discourse community on HIV/AIDS prevention education have some tinge of emotional language. Articles published in popular sources are the most at risk for such language. Journals seem to be the most credible sources for information on HIV/AIDS prevention, but even these studies fall short in being able to provide a clear-cut example of a type of prevention education that works. This is a clue that one sort of education, such as abstinence education, cannot be relied on to prevent the spread of HIV. Many factors go into what makes a prevention program work, from the cultural context to the funding available. Unfortunately, sometimes the funding will not allow the information to be disseminated in a culturally significant way- leaving some of the worlds population most at risk for HIV infection behind.
Recommendations
HIV/AIDS prevention education should be presented in a culturally significant manner. The audience is extremely important. Abstinence until marriage education cannot be presented to members of the gay community as the way to effectively prevent HIV transmission. This is not culturally significant considering that gay marriage is not legal in most states. In addition, it is important to remember the youth; those people who are still in high school. Knowing that 48% of high school students have had sex (Miller & Whitaker, 2001) it would be ignorant to teach these students abstinence education alone.
I believe information should be free to all people. If there is information on how to use condoms, then let the people know this information. There is no empirical evidence that condom education increases the spread of HIV. In fact, most studies show that condom education aids in decreasing the spread of HIV. This being the case, it is important to take each element of the A,B,C (abstinence, be faithful, condoms) approach as an equally important factor in HIV/AIDS prevention. I would rather know that the people of the world have more information, than too little information. In this life and death situation, knowledge is the answer to preserving life.
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OMG.. I've been trying to think of a topic to use for my writing class... if I wasn't trying to find something in my field I'd so do the HIV/AIDS topic.