In a recent study of Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), students and faculty members at North Central University were asked a serious question, is HIV/AIDS a big threat to our country?
HIV and AIDS are a disease of the human immune system. It has caused many people to die all over the world and is the 4th highest killer of people in the United States. It is contagious and is very easy to get it if you have certain contact with someone who has the disease. Any contact with contaminated blood and needles will give you a chance of contracting the disease. Sex and blood transfusions even pass it on to people. Infected mothers can give their children HIV/AIDS through pregnancy, childbirth, and even breast-feeding. HIV can develop into AIDS and can eventually kill you within 10 years of contracting the disease. Medication can prolong your life but they are expensive and hardly available to third world countries.
A total of 40 students and faculty members were interviewed and the results varied. Some people hardly knew about it and how deadly it really is. Some people knew all about it and had their opinions of the subject.
About 34% of the people interviewed said that HIV/AIDS were hardly a big deal and that people shouldn’t over-react about it. Sheila Nyakundi said, “No, It just has to do with the immune system so I don’t think it’s a big deal. I mean people aren't educated about it and that's why they make a huge deal of it.”
47% of the people interviews said that HIV/AIDS were a big deal and that people need to start doing something about the outbreak. Sarah Lundberg said, "I think it’s sad when people give it to their kids. I mean, its kind of a big deal, I don’t have it, but it’s a pretty big deal for other people." Andrew Peterson said, “People don’t realize how big of a deal HIV and AIDS are until they know someone who has suffered from it and have died from it. I think that there are either people who don’t know exactly what it is, or they’re too scared of getting the disease to do anything about it. Yes, we need to be careful and take precautions to not get it, but we need to step up and doing something to prevent more people from getting the disease.”
There were about 19% of the people interviewed who didn’t even know exactly what HIV and AIDS were. As Nyakundi said earlier, “People aren’t educated about it.” There were a few students that, when asked, were confused by the question. Jared Anderson said, “To be honest, I hear general things about HIV and AIDS all the time at school and stuff, but, I don’t exactly know what it is.”
So whether people think HIV/AIDS are a big threat to the United States or not, they need to be educated in all of the information so they can formulate an opinion and have a basic understanding of the disease.
In 2002, I was coaching a girls' junior high basketball team. We were playing in a tournament in rural Wisconsin. One of the girls on the other team began bleeding. I pointed that out to the referees and the girl was required to sit out for a few minutes while she was cleaned up and given a new set of shorts. Her coach was livid that we should not let her play 'just because she was bleeding'-it was such a 'little thing'. I responded with,"She may be HIV positive, we don't know." He almost jumped me!!! Okay, it was a tight game and this girl was his best player. Thank goodness that one of my parents stepped between us and told him to back off. I sure miss those days!!! Ha,ha
ReplyDeleteGreat story Alyssa! I agree that we need to get more educated. I was watching Idol gives back and were so sheltered here in America because we don't realize how threatening HIV/AIDS is especially in other countries.
ReplyDeleteYou did a very good job of picking out yet another poll! I had trouble with coming up with an idea for my second poll, and I didn't really think much of diseases. I think you did a great job at writing your poll and graphs are always a big help!
ReplyDeleteI really liked this. It was cool to have 2 sides of the poll instead of just focusing on one. Good use of quotes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading this story. It was a great topic and poll choice. I thought it was very well written and you used quotes very well. Good job!
ReplyDeleteWow, this was an awesome story, you made me want to read the whole thing just from the first sentence!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you used percents when it came to your poll data. It just makes things a bit easier to understand and flow better. I'm actually surprised that there are so many people in your poll that doesn't know about AIDS/HIV.
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