Not Fear Education reviewed by Martha J. Tweed, College of Social Work, San Jose State University Peer Education, Not Fear Education compares a reality-based approach in teaching young people about AIDS and sexuality with that of the fear based approach heavily promoted by the religious right over the past five years. Preference is placed on utilizing peers as educators to provide young people with both the knowledge and skills they will need to protect themselves. It is generally accepted that most teens obtain their information about sexuality from peers. Although approximately 85 percent of parents support sex education in the schools and even more support AIDS education, most school settings are not addressing the need to provide both accurate information and social skills.
Adolescent females are especially at risk.
Although in the adult population AIDS is nine times more prevalent in men than in women, the same is not true for young people. According to a District of Columbia study, the rate of HIV infection for girls was almost three times that of boys. This 27 minute video narrated by Kathleen Payne begins by examining the traditional fear-based curriculum supported primarily by the Christian Coalition. Film clips demonstrate presentations by educators from the religious right attempting to deter adolescents from engaging in sexual activity by scaring them into abstinence. In actuality, if used properly, condoms are 10,000 times safer than unprotected sex.