Talk to Your Child about HIV/AIDS

Raising a child is the most gratifying as well toughest job. It's the duty of responsible parents to create the awareness of all social issues among children. There are lots of complex matters all around that are difficult for children to understand and for adults to explain. Educating children about sex, HIV/AIDS is very important so that they don't get any erroneous information from wrong sources. Also look through our other AIDS article.

Here are some tips on how to start the discussion:

Before initiating the conversation think about the information you want to discuss with your child keeping into consideration child's age, prior knowledge and influences, as well as your own religious and cultural values. Child psychologists think that the sooner you talk about it to your child the better.

Assemble all important and correct information about HIV/AIDS from doctors, friends and informative websites, so that you can convey accurate and correct information to your child.

To initiate you can use the terms like: "Have you heard about AIDS before? Well, what do you think AIDS is?" This way, you can discover what she/he already understands and work from there.

Be honest and frank with your child. If you are uncomfortable, they are too while discussing such topics. Share your feelings and make them comfortable so that they can easily say their doubts with you. Children's misconceptions about AIDS can be pretty scary, so it's important to correct them as soon as possible.

Exchange your ideas and make the conversation friendly don't make it like a lecture otherwise your child will not take any interest. Listen to what they have to say and encourage them to share their thoughts and feelings.

Discuss peer pressure, and encourage your child to use his or her own judgment when making critical decisions. Even if you don't agree with your child don't pass any judgment
Provide them with educational material or web sites where they can learn in private. Then discuss their experiences later.

Facts your child should know about HIV/AIDS:

AIDS is a disease that anyone can get and how dangerous it is.
HIV is the virus which damages the body's immune system. A damaged immune system leaves our body at risk for those illnesses and infections said to be AIDS defining.
AIDS can spread through sexual contact, transfusions of blood or blood products, sharing needles to inject drugs, during childbirth, during breastfeeding.
Complete knowledge of safe sex.
Homosexuals get AIDS the same way that heterosexuals do. And they can protect themselves the same way, too.
Your child must know about the end result of AIDS that is death.

If your child is too conscious or shy talking to you about this then guide them to a person to whom they can confide and confess about their queries and problems. In case they are not ready to discuss the subject give them time and wait till they initiate.

(Sources: talkingwithkids.org, aids.about.com, ehow.com)