“Free love,” a term used in the 1960s and 1970s akin to promiscuity, was an ideological norm that would be deemed unacceptable today.
In recent years, the number of HIV/AIDS awareness programs and sex education courses has increased, pushing attitudes and sexual behaviors in a more conservative direction.
Several student groups have collaborated to organize a series of events for World AIDS Day to continue the trend of educating the community on HIV/AIDS.
The overarching “Knowledge is Power” motto is used to draw attention to HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, said Dana Helwick, coordinator for Students for International Change, a group involved with hosting events for World AIDS Day.
“The ‘Kiss and Tell’ theme (of this year) is about re-affirming safe sexual practices and is also about everyone knowing how this is affecting others all around the world,” Helwick said.
Since the discovery of AIDS at UCLA 25 years ago, increasing efforts have been made to educate the public about the disease and ways to prevent its spread.
“Ten years ago we didn’t know how HIV was spread or what caused it, but now that we have that information, it is really important for people to be aware of the issue,” said Versha Srivastava, the director for the AIDS Awareness Committee of the Student Welfare Commissioner’s office.
Educating others is important because some people still believe AIDS is distant from them because they are not promiscuous or are in a monogamous relationship, she said
“But the reality of the problem is that HIV/AIDS is a worldwide problem and symptoms may not even show for long periods of time,” Srivastava said.
Helwick said approaching the issue with an aggressive education campaign is the most effective method of addressing HIV/AIDS.
“When we address the issue head-on, we touch people on a more personal level,” she said.
While formal sex education classes began decades earlier, it wasn’t until 1986 that then-U.S. Surgeon General Charles Everett Koop began his campaign to institute comprehensive AIDS and sexuality education in public schools.
Different studies have produced mixed results regarding how sex education classes affect sexual activity among those receiving the education.
Some opponents to sex education classes argue that the increased information about sex encourages youths to be more promiscuous.
But most studies have concluded that there is a higher incidence of condom use among students who have received sex education classes.
A six-year study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that the percentage of high school students engaging in sexual risk behaviors decreased from 1991 to 1997.
Consequently, the study concluded that a “significant” correlation exists between “the decrease of sexual risk behaviors and the availability of HIV prevention programs.”
Another study published in the Journal of American College Health similarly concluded that while the number of sexually active young adults did not change, there was a significant difference between a student’s attitudes and behaviors about having safer sex with fewer partners.
“HIV/AIDS education programs delay initiation of intercourse, reduce the frequency of sex, reduce the number of sexual partners, and increases the number of condoms or other forms of contraception,” according to studies done by the AIDS institute of the University of California San Francisco.
Opponents of formal sex education in public schools argue that disseminating such information would produce the reverse of the desired effect and would actually increase the prevalence of sexual behavior.
Groups such as the Catholic Education Resource Center say parents are the primary educators of their children and schools must not violate a child’s innocence.
Other opponents argue that abstinence-only sex education classes should be permitted, which do not allow for discussion of condoms and other forms of contraception.
Abstinence-only sex education teaches abstinence to be the only acceptable behavior for teens who are not married.