 |
Love the Children
By the time you read the first five words of this sentence, five newborn babies inhaled their first breath on Planet Earth. And during this same history-making second, two children and/or youth probably died of a preventable cause. It is time that the adults of this world show more love for the children who live with us on the approximately 57 million square miles of earth’s land surface.
Of those needing love, most are those children who are victims of catastrophic illnesses that have taken away their hope, and those whose parents have been taken away by those diseases. HIV/AIDS is one such disease, and those children with AIDS need our love along with those who do not have this disease, but who have lost their parents to it.
Some families have been blessed with capabilities for providing loving homes for children who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS. State departments of social services will provide financial assistance for those willing to adopt or become foster parents to these children. Others can assist with financial assistance or can relieve parents by providing a free afternoon, overnight, or weekend day-care for those with such heavy burdens of constant care. Jesus was thinking of this kind of love when He said, “As you have done it unto one of the least of these . . . you have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:40).
Churches, social clubs, and families can find many ways to show love to these children, and they, as much as the children, will be richly blessed by this ministry. But when we look at many of the problems affecting children, such as HIV/AIDS, prevention is one of the greatest needs and can often be reasonably achieved.
According to the United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention, young people in the United States are at persistent risk for HIV infection. This risk is especially notable for youth of minority races and ethnicities. Continual HIV prevention outreach and education efforts, including programs on abstinence and on delaying the initiation of sex, are required as new generations replace the generations that benefited from earlier prevention strategies.
An estimated 4,883 young people received a diagnosis of HIV infection or AIDS, representing about 13 percent of the persons given a diagnosis during a recent testing initiative.
HIV infection progressed to AIDS more slowly among young people than among all persons with a diagnosis of HIV infection. This delayed progression from HIV infection to AIDS in youth provides opportunities for early diagnosis, treatment, and actions to prevent the further spread to friends and family members. Testing is one important factor in prevention initiatives.
African-American youth were disproportionately affected by HIV infection, accounting for 55 percent of all HIV infections reported among persons aged 13–24 during that same recent period.
According to Center for Disease Control’s Youth Risk Behavioral Survey (YRBS), many young people begin having sexual intercourse at early ages: 47 percent of high school students have had sexual intercourse, and 7.4 percent of them reported their first sexual intercourse before age 13. HIV/AIDS education needs to take place at correspondingly young ages, before young people engage in sexual behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection.
Young women, especially those of minority races or ethnicities, are increasingly at risk for HIV infection through heterosexual contact. According to data from a CDC study of HIV prevalence among disadvantaged youth during the early to mid-nineties, the rate of HIV prevalence among young women aged 16-21 was 50 percent higher than the rate among young men in that age group. African-American women in this study were 7 times as likely as White women and 8 times as likely as Hispanic women to be HIV positive. Young women are at risk for several reasons, including biologic vulnerability, lack of recognition of their partners’ risk factors, and inequality in relationships.
Young people in the United States use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs at high rates. Both casual and chronic substance users are more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors, such as unprotected sex, when they are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Runaways and other homeless young people are at high risk for HIV infection if they are exchanging sex for drugs or money.
Research has shown that a large proportion of young people are not concerned about becoming infected with HIV. Adolescents need accurate, age appropriate information about HIV infection and AIDS, including how to avoid this dreaded disease. Information should also include the concept that abstinence is the only 100 percent effective way to avoid infection.
Love is key. Children who do not know they are loved will do things that are self-destructive. If no one seems to care about them, they are easily deceived by others who care only about themselves and what the present has to offer. The self-esteem of youth is enhanced when any responsible adult shows an interest in their well-being. Love is quick to praise that which is good, and slow to condemn. And when condemnation is appropriate, the wrongful activity is condemned, not the person. The person is loved even when the behavior cannot be approved. Nothing should stop a parent from loving a child. When a child understands that, a difference in behavior is observed. That is the kind of love God showed for us while we were deep in sin. As God’s love is accepted, pass it on to others and especially to His children.
CLARENCE E. HODGES, PH.D., former commissioner, United States Administration for Children, Youth and Families, is the president and CEO of Love the Children, Inc. (www.lovethechildrennow.com), Huntsville, Alabama. |
|
|
