A.I.D.S. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. This is a disease which affects EVERYONE. It is not strictly a "gay disease" or one that "drug users and hookers get." Everyone who has sex is at risk for this disease, and the only way you are going to be safe is to educate yourself. HIV is a virus. This means there is no vaccine, and THERE IS NO CURE. People with this horrible disease are often shunned from their schools, the communities, even their friends and families. You cannot get A.I.D.S. from touching. You cannot get A.I.D.S. from sharing glasses or food. Most importantly, you cannot get A.I.D.S. from being around someone who has it. People who are HIV+ are people too. They need our love and support more than anything. For without love, there will never be an end. Please take time to educate yourself. This disease is taking the lives of children, of parents, of sisters and brothers, of friends. It spares no one. No one is immune. THERE IS NO CURE.
Here are some links to help educate you:
A Universal Guide To Safer Sex
Until There's A Cure (a non-profit organization)
YouthCo (for and by HIV+ youth)
Safer Sex In Explicit Detail
Alcoholism. Alcoholism is a disease, which like any other disease, not only affects those afflicted with it, but also affects the lives of anyone in contact with the person who has the disease. The only thing is, with alcoholics, they don't usually realize that they need help. In fact, some are so successful at denying they have a problem that they actually are able to convince those around them that its true. Do not be fooled. There are support groups for both the alcoholic (Alcoholics Anonymous) and the families of the alcoholic (Alateen). If someone you know or love is struggling with alcoholism, please encourage them to get help. Do not give up. Do not wait until it is too late. If you wait, it will kill them. And when it kills them, part of you will die too.
Here are some links for information on Alcoholism:
Alcoholics Anonymous Home Page
Information On Alcoholics Anonymous
How Alcoholism Affects The Family
Sex Education. We live in a society where sex education is something that is "swept under the rug," so to speak. Teachers only tell students what is required by law, and parents leave it up to the teachers to provide their children with all the necessary information. WAKE UP. First, schools don't even offer sex education until 7th or 8th grade, and then it is only "this is the penis" and "this is the vagina." This is not going to do. By the time I reached my first sex education class, I knew girls who had babies. I was lucky. I have a very open mom, who, when i came to her with a very basic question, sat me down and told me, in detail, everything that I needed to know. Many many children are not this lucky. I hear stories that scare me. I knew this girl, and when we were in 6th grade (about age 12) she got her period. No one had told her this was going to happen. She thought something was very wrong. When she went crying to her mother, her mom only said that "it was natural, and it happens to all girls" then gave her some feminine hygeine products and sent her on her way. NO NO NO NO NO. This is not the way to handle such matters. Sex Education needs to begin in Elementary School with teachers explaining the differences between the sexes and how they should treat one another. As the children grow older, the information becomes more detailed. None of this waiting till we are in high school to tell us what sex is shit. STD's and teenage pregnancy are at amazing heights in the United States. EDUCATION IS THE KEY.
Here are some links for information on Sex Education:
Stop AIDS Now Peer Education Center
Legalization of Marijuana. Now, before you get all riled up and say the only reason I want marijuana to be legal is so that I can smoke it without having to worry about getting arrested, let me speak. Marijuana has been proven to have great medical benefits, such as relieving the symptoms of: glaucoma, A.I.D.S., mygraine headaches, nausea, back pain, etc. The people who are afflicted with these things are already suffering more than any of us would ever want to comprehend. If marijuana can help to relieve some of their intense pain, they should be able to be provided this relief without having to worry about legal reprocussions. Also, the number of people in our jail system for such petty crimes as possession of marijuana is astounding. An ounce of weed isn't going to go make you kill someone. Save that space for the guy who just molested his daughter. Or the drunken teen who just killed an innocent motorist while driving under the influence. California realized the significance that legalizing marijuana for medicinal purposes has, and passed a law stating patients are allowed to be prescribed marijuana. Arizona passed the proposition, but the law is still being debated in the Supreme Court. Think about it: if you were suffering, and this could help you, wouldn't you want it to be legal?????
Here are some links with information on Marijuana:
High Times Magazine
lots and lots of links
Domestic Violence. Domestic Violence is something I recently became involved with through volunteer work with the Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence. It is something I grew up with, and now realize is all too common in today's society. Law enforcement refuses to recognize its destructive significance, and more and more women are dying every day from its effects. Domestic Violence affects everyone: abuser, victim, children, family and friends. Stand by those you love. Support is one of the only things that will truely help them.
Here are some links to information about Domestic Violence:
Arizona Coalition Against Domestic Violence
Phenomenal Women of the Web
Evelyn's Place on the Web
