Publication Date

Fall 2016

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Public Administration

Department

Public Administration

First Advisor

Susan Gaffney, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Natalia Ermasova, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Philip Boudreau, Ph.D.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to discover if implementing more educational interventions on HIV/AIDS would lead to lower incidents of HIV/AIDS among youth. A quantitative research design was used to determine the level of knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of high school students in regard to HIV/AIDS. The targeted population were youth ages 14-18 years old, which are generally high school students who are at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS. Participants in this study were students from Human Resources Development Institute’s Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program at Harper High School in Chicago, Illinois. The researcher administered questionnaires to the students at Harper High School. The researcher analyzed this data using descriptive statistics to explain the research phenomena of implementing effective interventions into school curriculums as a strategy to reduce the number of incidents of HIV/AIDS cases found among youth. Based upon the student’s responses, the researcher has learned that intervention programs that are implemented in school curriculums have significant influence on the youth population’s sexual activity and risk behaviors. This study has revealed 80% of the sample population were sexual active; with approximately 60% engaging in sexual activity by the age of 15. In revealing the sample population’s sexual activity, this study also concluded that this population lacked knowledge on HIV/AIDs as it pertains to them on their sexual risk behaviors.

Comments

Author's email and phone number were redacted from appendices on p. 46-48 by OPUS staff.

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