There are many things that aren’t talked about among our society because of taboos, fear, or embarrassment. One of the things our society excludes from open dialogues is HIV. HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus, and is incurable, though many people don’t realize how prevalent the disease has become. There are different barriers that don’t let people realize how dangerous HIV is among our community and youth. Our youth is currently engaging in a variety of risky situations in which they endangering themselves and other peers to HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases exposures.
HIV is a virus that infects only humans and it considered both dangerous and unique in that HIV attacks our body’s defense: the immune system. The healthy body's immune system fights-off infection with a combination of cellular and chemical responses.   White blood cells of various types play a large role in the immune response to infection by microbial agents (e.g., viruses and bacteria). HIV infection is so incredibly devastating because it renders the infected body virtually unable to protect itself from infection.    HIV works by attacking key elements in the normal cellular immune response-- leaving the host subject to infection from a wide array of infectious agents.   
Most notably, crucial white blood cells cells called CD4+ T cells are disabled and killed during the infection.   These cells, sometimes called "T-helper cells," play the central role in the normal immune response, signaling other cells in the immune system to perform their special functions.   Without these "helper cells", other parts of the immune system fail to function.

So, whenever someone said a person “died from AIDS”, in reality, the true cause of death is from pneumonia, tuberculosis, or other kinds of diseases which took hold since the HIV-infected immune system cannot combat the diseases. In short, most teens don’t realize the incredible devastation HIV has on the body because sometime, symptoms doesn’t show until 9-10 years after the infection via unprotected sex or sharing needles.
What is considered a risky behavior for teens to engage in? A risky behavior is any situation in which teens deliberately put themselves in the presence of exchanging HIV-infected fluids. These infectious fluids include blood, semen, vaginal fluids, and breast milk. The behaviors in which you can exchange fluids are seen in unsafe sex: oral, vaginal, and anal sex, as well as sharing drug needles. It should be noted that sharing needles is the riskiest way to get HIV because of direct blood-to-blood contact. Out of  the types of sex mentioned, anal sex is considered the riskiest. The sphincter of the anus isn’t very stretchy, so it is very easy for the sphincter to tear; therefore there are more infectious fluids involved that can cause the transmission of HIV if one of the partners is infected.

Another example of risky behaviors is “hooking up,” which can results in casual sex with multiple partners. “Hooking up” was first seen among college students but due to advances in social networking, it has been adapted among our youth. The internet has become a source of communication in which portals are open to have conversations with all kinds of people. While “hooking up,” some teens might forget protections like condoms, so there’s a huge increase risk of unwanted pregnancy and STDs.

HIV was discovered in 1981 and we know a lot more about it now, but there are still many barriers that prevent teens from having an open dialogue about HIV. Some barriers includes a lack of communications, limited resources, and an inadequate sex health education in schools, communities, and families. Another thing is that people may not get tested so they might be passing the virus around without knowing it. Why don’t they get tested? Many teens are paranoid about confidentiality. They’re afraid of parents and friends knowing about their HIV status if they turned out to be positive for HIV. But what they don’t know is that in the state of California, the person can get tested for HIV and other STD anonymously and confidentially. That means the health care provider can’t share the lab results with anyone other than that person. Another reason why teens don’t get tested as often is that they think HIV tests cost money – money they don’t have. But most public clinics offer HIV tests and other STD tests for no cost at all.
In my opinion, HIV would be prevented if condoms were used and if they were used correctly. Another way the risks of transmitting HIV can decrease is if people were to be more educated about how HIV is transmitted and how to wear a condom. For example, many people don’t know that there are twelve steps to putting on a condom. These steps are very important, and wearing a condom correctly can decrease the chances of transmitting HIV.  I believe that a vaccine for HIV is in the near future, but I don’t think we should depend on technology that hasn’t exist yet. For now, I’m relying on the only thing that protects me from HIV if I choose to have sex: condoms and knowledge.

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