TeenAIDS: Sons and Daughters

<v Male speaker 1>I ain't worried about it because if I ended up dead anyway, it'd be better than where I'm <v Male speaker 1>at right now. I mean, I myself-- <v Female speaker 1>--We used to go fishing together. He was, he was just a friend, um. <v Female speaker 1>We went sailing for the weekend, and we ended up, um, having sex together. <v Female speaker 1>I learned later on-- <v Female speaker 2>--Steve just was . . . I think we feel rage because our children are sick and they <v Female speaker 2>shouldn't be. And we feel rage because nothing's being done on a local level-- <v Male speaker 2>--our data here in Los Angeles suggests that we are looking at a population <v Male speaker 2>that is, you know, the sons and daughters of all of us who are running <v Male speaker 2>the risk of getting infected. <v Male speaker 2>Uh, it's not the male/female ratio-- <v Male speaker 3>--You know, I get furious because we have basically, as a society, buried <v Male speaker 3>our head in the sands when it comes to AIDS and AIDS prevention. <v Male speaker 3>Nearly 40 percent-- <v Male speaker 4>--just that one time you get HIV. <v Male speaker 4>How would you like to be dead before you're 30? <v Male speaker 4>Do you think about that? And I'm going to tell you how you're gonna-- <v Male speaker 5>--there's just too many people dying, and, uh, we need to help <v Male speaker 5>each other.

<v Male sex worker>[sound of city street; car horns honk] Hey, daddy, need a date? Sit yo' ass down, girl, we <v Male sex worker>are trying to work! <v Male voice on street>C'mon, bitch, with your big ol' booty ?inaudible?-- <v C.C.>I, um, never was one to really be <v C.C.>able to live with rules, because <v C.C.>I'm 18 years old. I'm not going to be in some <v C.C.>placement home being told when to eat, when to sleep, when to shit <v C.C.>and, uh . . . <v Male sex worker>This is not playtime, this is work, honey. We need coins! We're hungry. <v C.C.>He's a flamer. <v Male sex worker>Bitch, don't you be startin' no shit with me, Paul. [C.C. laughs] I'll show you what a flamer is all about, honey. <v C.C.>It's like. OK. Turning tricks, the way you feel, it makes you depressed. <v C.C.>Picture . <v C.C.>. . hell on earth, basically.

<v C.C.>'Cause when you're getting in that stranger's car, you don't know what kind of person <v C.C.>that is. You don't know if he's gonna take you home, and you'll never be seen again. <v C.C.>But you don't care because you want your money for either your <v C.C.>drugs or alcohol. <v C.C.>Place to stay. <v C.C.>You know. [sound of music from passing car] I have used condoms, and I mostly don't. <v C.C.>I think they're a hassle. <v C.C.>If they got 'em, yeah. If they don't, I don't worry about it. <v C.C.>[sound of car passing by on street] Because I just don't care. <v Sylvia>I was infected back in 1984, and at the time I was 19

<v Sylvia>years old, right out of high school. <v Sylvia>We spent a weekend together sailing and just having a good time. <v Sylvia>And I didn't realize, you know, that all these years later that that one weekend was <v Sylvia>gonna, was gonna change the rest of my life. <v Sylvia's mother>I think it was shock, first thing. <v Sylvia's mother>Um. Just. <v Sylvia's mother>I was just devastated. And, uh, <v Sylvia's mother>my way to react to that was to <v Sylvia's mother>just pray. <v Sylvia>And I didn't . . . did not know that he was a bisexual. <v Sylvia>I had no clue. No idea. <v Sylvia's father>We had good support from our close friends. <v Sylvia's father>And, uh, once you . . . kinda accept that, <v Sylvia's father>it becomes a lot easier. <v Sylvia>And the more informed I became and the more, you know, counseling

<v Sylvia>and support I got, I decided that . <v Sylvia>. . that I could live with this. <v Sylvia>That it was something liveable, and it's treatable. <v Sylvia>I went on medication. <v Sylvia>It's not an instant death sentence. <v Sylvia>Thank God. <v Sylvia>Um, and I started reaching out to other people. <v Sylvia's mother>If we're going through it, there's a lot of people out there <v Sylvia's mother>that are going through it, but they're alone. <v Sylvia's mother>They have no help. They have no support. <v Sylvia's mother>And that, that's really important in this. <v Sylvia's mother>I know if I hadn't had the support at first, I probably would've <v Sylvia's mother>been a basket case. <v Support group participant 1>[sound of group preparing to begin discussion; paper shuffling; laughter] I <v Support group participant 1>am the mother of a deceased AIDS patient. <v Support group participant 2>I think a lot of people really care, but they just can't handle illness. <v Support group participant 3>Last week I was pissed.

<v Support group mediator>You were pissed ?inaudible?-- [group laughter] <v Support group participant 3>Now I'm better, I'm better today. And my son is better today. <v Support group participant 3>And, uh, I'm grateful for every good day there is. <v Support group participant 3>You know, and of course, I'm grateful for the bad days too, because at least we're <v Support group participant 3>together. So, um, today it's okay. <v Support group participant 4>A girlfriend of mine called and <v Support group participant 4>gave me some new information about a medication for CMV retinitis, <v Support group participant 4>a new drug. So I told Chris about that, and she said, <v Support group participant 4>"You know, mom, I've been praying every day, every day, <v Support group participant 4>that a miracle happens, that I don't lose my eyesight. <v Support group participant 4>And maybe this is that miracle that I've been praying for." <v Support group participant 5>I know it's so painful, you know, to watch her and, and <v Support group participant 5>not be able to fix her. <v Support group participant 5>And so it's no, you know, it's no coincidence that we're here. <v Support group participant 5>And I feel like we're all a real gift to each other. <v Support group participant 6>He said he doesn't want to kill himself at this point.

<v Support group participant 6>But he, he wants to do whatever he has to do. <v Support group participant 6>And he wants me to survive. He wants me to get on with releasing him. <v Support group participant 7>There needs to be some reassurance, whatever that is, that, that you will survive. <v Support group participant 8>It's a very freeing kind of thing to release him or <v Support group participant 8>her, whoever, to their own ?inaudible?. <v Support group participant 8>It doesn't mean you love any less-- <v Other group participant>Oh, no, no, no . . . <v Support group participant 8>The love is, is, maybe on a different level. <v Support group participant 8>And it's a real challenge. And it may be an everyday or an every moment kind <v Support group participant 8>of releasing. And then suddenly you find, oh gosh, I haven't released at all, and then <v Support group participant 8>you release a little more. <v Support group participant 3>My family has all been notified, and they, ah, have indicated <v Support group participant 3>their support initially. <v Support group participant 3>But it isn't anything they ever ask about. <v Support group participant 3>It isn't anything they ever talk about. <v Other group participant>You can't say it out loud. It might come true if you say it out loud. <v Support group participant 3>You know, once in a while there's a reference like, ah, we're so glad that Chris is doing <v Support group participant 3>well, but they don't call him-- <v Other group participant>Well, that let's them off the hook.

<v Support group participant 3>They don't call him to ask him how he's doing. <v Support group participant 3>You know, he feels a little bit of abandonment. <v Support group participant 8>I spent probably 45 minutes attempting to console his doctor, <v Support group participant 8>because she said she was so surprised of his death. <v Support group participant 8>And she said, "You know, when I found out, I came back, <v Support group participant 8>and I combed through the records to see if I'd missed anything." <v Support group participant 8>And she was just devastated by it. <v Support group participant 8>And yet, and of course, she sees it every day in the clinic. <v Support group participant 8>And yet there had been that kind of commitment <v Support group participant 8>and caring on her part, and that just <v Support group participant 8>nearly destroyed her. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>You'll look at our population here in Los Angeles.

<v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>It was 1 in 46 adolescents were HIV positive. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>When we look at kids who have 5 and 6 risk factors with <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>serial monogamous sexual relationships numbering in the 50s, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>IV drug users, uh, homosexual/bisexual relationships, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>we, we find them testing negative. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>And we look at this other group that come in because they have a real concern about the <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>fact they've had three sexual partners. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>Ah, they've all been heterosexual. They're coming up positive. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>Uh, we . . . this is very surprising to us. We would've suspected the opposite. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>So this surprise suggests that we may be in for a significant epidemic <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>amongst adolescents, ah, an epidemic that's going to express itself in young adulthood. <v Sylvia's mother>I haven't played with these things since your, your uncles were little, Chad. <v Sylvia's son>[child makes happy laugh while playing with Tinker Toys] I'm not going to do anymore on the top. <v Sylvia's mother>You're not? Okay.

<v Sylvia>It was a week of agony, you know, waiting for my son's test result. <v Sylvia>I remember just the guilt and the fear when they strap down my little, you know, <v Sylvia>2 year old to take blood. <v Sylvia>You know, it was awful. An awful feeling. <v Sylvia>And the guilt of what? What if I've given this to him? <v Sylvia>But, um, babies have a 30 percent chance of getting it. <v Sylvia>And I'm just very, very grateful. <v Sylvia>That my son's fine. He's totally healthy. <v Young man on street>Thanks, dude. <v Young man on street>Miss, do you have any spare change, so I can get something to eat? <v Woman passerby>Well . . . [searches for coins] ?inaudible? <v Young man>Thanks. <v Woman>You're welcome. <v Young man>Hey, dude, you got any spare change, man? It's hard because we'll stand out there, and we'll <v Young man>panhandle hoping somebody will give us a dollar or two or three <v Young man>or four or five.

<v Young man>Hey, dude, you got any spare change so I can get something to eat? <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>The people that we're seeing are predominantly older teens and young adults. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>They're living on the streets, surviving by prostitution, mostly <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>involved with substance abuse. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services> 60 percent of these kids are system failures. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>They've come through the foster care system. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>Now they're on the streets. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>Um. And a lot of them don't have a whole lot to necessarily look forward to or a whole <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>lot of trust. Um. So when we're talking about trying to get them to change behavior, <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>you know, somebody who doesn't care a whole lot if they live or die maybe has a hard time <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>changing behavior. <v Male speaker 1>--uncomfortable about stating how AIDS has affected ?inaudble?-- <v Male speaker 2>Well, AIDS really hasn't affected my life.

<v Male speaker 1>On me, not in me, unless you have a condom on. <v Male speaker 3>On me? <v Male speaker 1>Not in me. Unless you have a condom. <v Male speaker 4>Up until then, I never practiced safe sex, never. <v Jim>Okay my name is Jim. Um. From Illinois. <v Jim>And AIDS really hasn't affected my life. Except that since I had been an I.V. <v Jim>drug user, I'm kind of a high risk. <v Jim>And that sucks. <v Male speaker 5>I never had same sex when I was back in Texas. <v Male speaker 5>And I haven't been tested since then. <v Male speaker 5>So I don't know if I'm, you know, positive or negative. <v Male speaker 5>And I'm just reluctant to go get tested because I don't know how I'll be able to take it <v Male speaker 5>if they told me that I was positive. So I just have to think about that before <v Male speaker 5>I go get tested. Because I don't know how I'll be able to handle it. <v Male speaker 6>I think my whole attitude towards <v Male speaker 6>AIDS has just swung around and smacked me in the face. <v Male speaker 7>Last November I tested HIV positive, and up until last <v Male speaker 7>night nobody knew about it except me and the person who tested me.

<v Male speaker 7>And I've gone through all the . . . <v Male speaker 7>I went through the suicide phase, and, um, <v Male speaker 7>I went through the denial phase. <v Male speaker 7>And I'm . . . I think I'm actually still in the denial phase and it's . <v Male speaker 7>. . it's <v Male speaker 7>hard to talk about . <v Male speaker 7>. . <v Counselor>It's okay. That denial helps, too. <v Counselor>To cope with it. <v Male speaker 7>What I missed out on was, I missed out on my entire childhood. <v Male speaker 7>I missed out on having pets when I was a kid. <v Male speaker 7>I missed out on. I've never had a birthday party. <v Male speaker 7>When I was 14, 15 years old, I felt like I was 20 or 25, because <v Male speaker 7>when I was at 14 or 15 years old,

<v Male speaker 7>I had slept with well over more men than my mother has. <v Male speaker 7>I'm sure. <v Female speaker 1>I don't know how to say it. I mean, how does it make you feel? <v Female speaker 1>You know, I mean . . . does it, is it like <v Female speaker 1>extremely hard to deal with or . <v Female speaker 1>. . are you like getting over that? <v Male speaker 7>It's . . . up until 24 days ago, I dealt <v Male speaker 7>with it by using drugs and alcohol. <v Male speaker 7>And it's just now that I have these days sober and clean, <v Male speaker 7>that the issues about it have been coming up. <v Male speaker 7>Right now. <v Male speaker 7>I don't know what to think about it. I don't know what to feel about it because I don't <v Male speaker 7>know shit about it. I honestly don't know shit about AIDS. <v Male speaker 7>I don't know shit about HIV. I know that I have buried someone because of it. <v Male speaker 7>I don't know what happened to him. I don't, I know what they looked like when they died. <v Male speaker 7>I know I don't want to look like that.

<v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>We sort of have the weekend warriors who sort of come in from the the <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>neighboring communities into the large urban centers to <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>sort of get their thrills and take their risk, uh, over the weekend, without <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>realizing, you know, what they're really getting thrill from and what they're risking. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>And if by so doing they contract a- a- <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>an infection, which then can be taken back to their community, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>uh, whether it be a venereal infection or, uh, or, you know, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>a venereal infection such as, you know, HIV infection. They take it back to the <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>community, take it back to their high schools and take it back to their <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>middle-American lifestyle. <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>And now you've set up the reservoir for a contamination of a community. <v Sylvia>We have to do the responsible thing-- <v Sylvia's mother>Right. <v Sylvia>--anyways. <v Sylvia's mother>Right. So that-- <v Sylvia>In spite of my disease, I mean, even without my disease, I should have. <v Sylvia's mother>Yes.

<v Sylvia>Being a mother, I should have had all those things taken care of, and I hadn't. <v Sylvia>So now I have everything's taken care of and . <v Sylvia>. . <v Sylvia's mother>Well, that's good. Because, uh, even your dad and I, years ago, we did that. <v Sylvia's mother>When you kids were little. <v Sylvia's mother>Just in case of an accident or whatever. <v Sylvia>Yeah. Right. It was hard because I didn't want to admit that I'm gonna allow myself to <v Sylvia>die or allow myself to get sick by doing it. <v Sylvia>I think that's why put it off so long. <v Sylvia's mother>Right. <v Sylvia>But now that I did it, I can, it's, everything's taken care of. <v Sylvia>I've been responsible. Everything's taken care of. And I can live my life to its fullest. <v Sylvia>You know? <v Sylvia's mother>That's right. <v Male speaker 1 living under bridge>[sound of traffic] --all my goddamn rich friends gonna be there. <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>?No long stories, no windows barred? <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>No things to make my brain ?inaudible? . . . <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>There is what you call friends and there's what you call acquaintances out here. <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>I guess you could kinda say Hollywood's like one big happy, <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>they think, happy family.

<v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>But what it is, is basically one big sad <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>individuals that have nowhere to go. <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>It's a moment to moment thing. You don't know what's going to happen one day to the next <v Male speaker 2 living under bridge>. . . Co-ollld . . . <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>AIDS is doubling every six months in heterosexual populations. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>Kids are having an enormous amount of sex, uh, and we want to sort of pretend, <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>you know, we have this sort of image of the Waltons and everything sort of wholesome and <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>that isn't going on here, and we're uncomfortable with it. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>And that's a real problem because that discomfort of talking about <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>it, ah, sets up a barrier right away <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>when we start talking about trying to educate young people about pregnancy, STD, <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>AIDS. You know, any of these things. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>I mean, if we can't, if we, if we're going to squirm around talking about these <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>subjects, how can we be effective educators? <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>How can we expect kids to change behavior? <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>[sound of children playing on playground] How does it feel to have an orgasm?

<v Male teen 1>Oooh . . . <v Male teen 2>Light side of heaven. <v Male teen 3>You're good for a-- <v Female teen 1>[laughter] Yeah. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Light side of heaven. How many of you've had orgasms? You like having orgasms, guys? <v Teen group> [cross-talk and laughter] <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>I would bet that most of you think about sex more than your homework. <v Teen group>[laughter and cross-talk] <v Male teens>Homework? Homework? What are you talkin' about? Homework? . . . No, no, that's homework! <v Female teen>What's homework? <v Male teen>What is homework? <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Do men just want to get laid? <v Female teen 2>Most of 'em in my opinion. Yeah. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>When are you gonna have sex? <v Female teen 3>When I feel I'm ready. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>When will you be ready? <v Female teen 3>When I find the right person. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Let me ask you a very, very important question. I need to be as honest as you can about <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>it. Did you wear a rubber? <v Male teen 4>No. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Did she protect herself, wear a diaphragm-- <v Male teen 4>No. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>--or anything like that. Weren't you afraid of getting her pregnant?

<v Male teen 4>We were drunk. We didn't know what we were doing. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>So it's kind of, you were drunk, you were in the heat of the moment, and let's get it on. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>[directs next question to new teen] Did you ever . . . did you protect yourself when you had sex? <v Female teen 4>Yeah. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Every time? <v Female teen 4>Not every time. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Why? <v Female teen 4>I just have fun, you don't think about it. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>You're in the heat of the moment. <v Female teen 4>[laughs] Yeah. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>When you're in that moment everything's hot with a girl or a boy. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>You forget about condoms. You forget about safe sex. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>You forget about all those things. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>You guys are looking at yourselves? Looking hard at yourselves? <v Teen group>Yeah. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Am I telling you to go out and have sex? <v Teen group>No. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Did I ever tell you to go out and have sex? <v Teen group>No. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>What have I told you about sex? <v Teen group>Protect yourself. <v Male teen>Party hats! <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Protect. Your. Selves. <v Male teen>Get a party hat. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>Not because I support promiscuity or, ah, dangerous sexuality. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>In fact, that's why I'm talking to you about this today. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>And that's why we continue to talk about this. I wish so strongly that parents could

<v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>understand, all parents, that it's out there. <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>And that what we need to teach our kids is that intimacy and love is what you need to <v Mike Slyder, Psychotherapist>work for. <v Male outreach worker 1>What I'm look, what we're looking for tonight is kids. <v Female outreach worker>Mmm-huh. <v Male outreach worker 1>Well, let's concentrate Western to Van Ness <v Male outreach worker 1>on Hollywood Boulevard and drop down. <v Male outreach worker 1>Let's not spook anybody. Let's not scare 'em off. <v Male outreach worker 1>Let's handle it real, real gently, OK? <v Male outreach worker 1>Okay. So let's get out here. Let's do it. <v Male outreach worker 2>I got yer clipboard. <v Male outreach worker 3>Excuse me, this is my clipboard, homie. <v Female outreach worker>[laughter] <v Male outreach worker 3>Was'sup, homes? How you doin', man? <v Male outreach speaker 3>How you doin', man? We're from the homeless ?inaudible program?, and we're over here <v Male outreach speaker 3>talking to people about AIDS and stuff like that. <v Male outreach speaker 3>How old are you, man?

<v Male teen on street>17. <v Male outreach speaker 3>17? <v Female outreach worker>Well what we want to do, we want to make sure you know the facts about AIDS. <v Male outreach worker 3>Yeah, how much you know about AIDS, man? <v Male teen on street>Well, I know it's a deadly disease. <v Male teen on street>And . . . I'm very aware that, you know, it's not easy to catch. <v Male teen on street>And you know, I know I got to be careful and stuff about sex and all that, but it's-- <v Male outreach worker 3>You know, how would you get it? <v Male teen on street>Yeah, I know how you get it. <v Male teen on street>I know, I'm not sure, but I think you can't get <v Male teen on street>it from uh, uh, uh, spit and stuff like that. <v Male outreach worker 3>Okay, I'll tell you what. Let's do a little test. I have a little test over here of five <v Male outreach worker 3>questions. Okay? And we'll see how, how much you know. <v Male outreach worker 3>OK? <v Male outreach worker 3>OK. Now answer me this question. <v Male outreach worker 3>How would you know if I have AIDS? <v Male teen on street>I'll ask you. <v Male outreach worker 3>OKay. I can lie. <v Male outreach worker 3>I can tell you, "No, I don't have AIDS." <v Male teen on street>Or just see if you're clean. <v Male outreach worker 3>OK. <v Male outreach worker 3>I look clean, man. <v Male tean on street>Yeah. <v Male outreach worker 3>What happens if yesterday I had sex with somebody that had AIDS? And I still look clean, man.

<v Male outreach worker 3>So what you want to do, no matter how fine a woman looks, man. <v Male outreach worker 3>Because I know that some girls they look fine. <v Male outreach worker 3>We're talking fine. Right? <v Male outreach worker 3>But always, always like I said, no matter how fine she looks, we got to use condoms, man. <v Male outreach worker 3>Those are the ones you got to be, you know-- <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>In terms of most youth. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>You know, what we're doing, you know, is creating the illusion that we're doing <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>something. It's like, yeah, we're passing out some information. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>You know, we'll, we'll talk about it for, uh, 50 minutes in a classroom one <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>day. We'll hand 'em a brochure. ?Aren't we? <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>wonderful. We've done AIDS prevention. That doesn't get people to change behavior. <v C.C.>Would it be better in this arm? <v Male holding hypodermic needle>I don't know. <v Male smoking>Pump. <v Male holding hypodermic needle>See this is the one I want to fuckin' hit, but it won't pop up. <v Male smoking>Pump. Pump. Pump. Keep pumping, C.C.

<v C.C.>Heroin. Crystal. <v C.C.>Um-- <v Male smoking>--?there? you go. <v C.C.>--pot. Acid. LSD. Um. Basically <v C.C.>anything that'll get me high. <v Male holding hypodermic needle>Arm up in the air ?inaudible?. <v C.C.>And you <v C.C.>don't think about your problems. <v C.C.>You don't think about being on the street. You don't think about <v C.C.>anything. You just think about the next time you're going to get high and . <v C.C.>. . <v C.C.>Just say yes to drugs. <v C.C.>I feel a rush. <v Male holding hypodermic needle>You get a little one, yeah.

<v C.C.>It ain't little to me. <v C.C.>If they're clean, they're clean [needles]. If they're not, and nobody has bleach, I don't <v C.C.>worry about it. <v C.C.>We're gonna be up all night. <v Sylvia>[laughter] Can you see that baby there? <v Sylvia>And where's the people on crutches? <v Sylvia's son>Like these? <v Sylvia>Yeah-up. And a cast. When Jesus taught in Galilee, <v Sylvia>a lot of people came because they heard that he could heal the deaf, the blind, the lame. <v Sylvia>I can't imagine somebody else raising my child. <v Sylvia>But I've also been responsible in the fact that I've had to pick <v Sylvia>who I wanted for guardians for my son, um, to deal <v Sylvia>with telling my son that I, that I have a disease and that I'm that I'm fine now. <v Sylvia>Unless I would ever get sick, I don't think he needs to know about the morbid <v Sylvia>part of it. <v Sylvia>Some mothers carried babies too sick to make a cry. <v Sylvia>And Jesus healed the lepers, too. And any passing by who had a fever, crippled arm, or <v Sylvia>any kind of pain. And people who are feeling sad, he'd soon made laugh again.

<v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>As physicians get to know more about risk profiles and the, the <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>need for risk assessment and the meth- method of risk asset- assessment, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>and the indication for HIV testing, uh, and the, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>uh degree of freedom they're allowed within their own state laws to . <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>. . to, uh, provide medical care and health care to minors, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>we'll begin to see a movement towards at least capturing the epidemic, <v Dr. Richard McKenzie, L.A. Childrens Hospital>at least putting some definition around this potential epidemic, which we all fear. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>In the 6 years I've been doing this, I've definitely seen some changes. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>Um, you know, what kids on the street are doing today versus what they were doing six <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>years ago has changed. There's a lot less intercourse going on, at least with, with, with

<v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>males, um, who's predominantly who we work with. <v Gabe Kruks, Director of Youth Services>Um, that's a change. <v Male group home resident 1>No matter how much you try to get away from what <v Male group home resident 1>this house represents, you know, every time you see one of the other residents, <v Male group home resident 1>you know why you're here. It's been very, unbelievably hellacious because of the <v Male group home resident 1>absolute nightmare of what it represents. <v Male group home resident 1>It's hard, it's hard to live here. <v Male group home resident 1>You know? Since I've lived here, we've had two of <v Male group home resident 1>our residents pass away here in this house. <v Male group home resident 1>And it's a real devastating thing, you know, because it's like each <v Male group home resident 1>time that happens, a part of you goes too. <v Male group home resident 2>It's been very difficult for me, um, sometimes, um.

<v Male group home resident 2>You know, I don't want to live anymore, because it's, it's uh, so painful <v Male group home resident 2>and annoying. And it's very hard because, <v Male group home resident 2>you know, I feel like I'm dying, <v Male group home resident 2>and uh, I'm not afraid of death itself, but <v Male group home resident 2>uh, uh the process of it scares me. <v Male group home resident 1>The one thing that I, I, I have got to get through these <v Male group home resident 1>adolescents' heads, you know, I feel like they have got to know this has not <v Male group home resident 1>been fun. It has not been an picnic. <v Male group home resident 1>If you don't know what a condom is, find out and get you one, <v Male group home resident 1>or 10, or whatever. <v Male group home resident 1>You know. Because it's not worth it. <v Male group home resident 1>It just isn't worth it.

<v Sylvia>The people that matter in this life are going to stand by you no matter what, and your <v Sylvia>true friends are gonna be there with you and that, <v Sylvia>I mean, yes, it's a struggle. And yes, it's something that's very hard to deal with. <v Sylvia>But you can take something bad, and I've decided to make something good out of it. <v Sylvia>And I want to use my experiences to teach other people. <v Sylvia>I want it to, you know, try and educate someone. <v Sylvia>If I can make a difference, if I can help one, you know, little high school girl or, <v Sylvia>you know, one little college guy. <v Sylvia>If I can help one person not become infected, then what I'm going to be going <v Sylvia>through will be worth it. <v C.C.>I'd a test not too long ago, and it came out negative. <v C.C.>I ain't sayin that later on down the line, I could come down with AIDS.

<v C.C.>Then I'm gonna die. <v C.C.>Then I ain't on the street no more, am I?