Get Real About AIDS

The Get Real About AIDS program was first developed in 1988 to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and AIDS among high-school-aged young people. It was updated in 1992 and further revised in 1994 when the curriculum was designated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a "Program That Works." The 14-session program includes training in basic sexuality, abstinence, and contraception education as well as training in behavioral skills. The program encourages teens to delay having sex, or, for those who do become sexually active, to reduce the risk of HIV by adopting such behaviors as being monogamous, avoiding drugs and alcohol, practicing safer sex, and not sharing needles.

The goal of the Get Real About AIDS program is to help prevent the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, HIV, and AIDS among high-school-aged young people.

In a study done in Colorado in the fall of 1991, ten schools were selected to receive the Get Real About AIDS curriculum. More than 2,800 students participated, filling out surveys before the program, after the first semester, and six months after completing the program. Compared with the group that didn't receive the training, program participants who were sexually active indicated that six months after completing the program they had fewer sexual partners, purchased and used condoms more frequently, intended to engage in sex less frequently with fewer partners, and planned to use condoms more often when they did engage in sex. All of these differences were significant. Students in the program group also had significantly greater knowledge of HIV, increased commitment to engage in safer sexual practices, and were more likely to believe that someone their age who engaged in risky behaviors could become infected with HIV than did students who did not participate in the program.