Who is Teaching (or Not Teaching) Mexican Youth in Southeast Idaho About Safer Sex Practices?

Abstract

Because of the high rate of HIV/AIDS in the Hispanic community, the original purpose of this qualitative study (n=20) was to investigate the explanatory models of HIV and AIDS in Mexican migrant women in southeast Idaho. However, a reoccurring theme emerged that pointed toward the possibility of a breakdown in communication between the Mexican migrant families and the education system regarding sex education. Eighty percent of the women interviewed believed that their children were receiving education about condoms and safer sex practices in the school, while in reality the students were only receiving abstinence-based sex education. Since the women believed that their children were being educated in school, there was no dialogue in the family unit about safer sex practices. Because of the high rate of HIV/AIDS and teen pregnancy in the Hispanic community in the United States, it is important to examine this lack of education as a possible catalyst to these problems.