When the question was asked: What do we, as coach's think is one of the biggest problems that most teens face today? I gave this question a lot of thought and I feel that AIDS is a major problem for teens today. AIDS seemed like a good choice because it is one of the largest growing epidemics in this country and in the world. In this paper, I am going to inform you with static and facts on why I feel this way. Last, I will tell you how being a good coach and informing our student athletes of what's out there will help them become better athletes and students.
             My first job in this paper is to inform you. AIDS is one of the largest growing epidemics in our country as well as the world. 35 million people are infected with HIV: One out of every 99 people in the world between the ages of 15 to 59 is infected with HIV. This number is growing larger everyday. In the year 2000, 6 million more people were infected with the virus: 25 percent of all newly infected people are teen; 50 percent of all newly infected people are 25 years old or younger. This scary static's are what made me think that this is one of the biggest problem teens face today.
             In 1997, the Journal of School Health gave a youth risk behavior survey to 1,783 students in 19 middle schools. In the section about sexual behavior there were many answers that had me very scared as well as concerned because they told me many young people were not concerned about AIDS and how it could affect them? First was when the students were asked if they had ever had sexual intercourse: Ten percent of six graders; Thirteen percent of seventh graders and Seventeen percent of eighth graders stated that they had sexual intercourse. When those same students were asked if they had been with three or more partners: Forty-four percent of sixth graders; Forty-three percent of seventh graders and Forty-six percent of eighth graders all stated that yes they had. Th...