DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2015.v03i05.001

Pages: 957-962

There is a general assumption that awareness of HIV/AIDs among the youth is high. However, the rate at which the youth in churches fall out due to unwanted pregnancies and infections confirm that young people are neither abstaining nor engaging in safe sex. This study investigated the impact of HIV/AIDs awareness on the sexual behavior among youth in selected churches in Meru South Sub County, Kenya. The study established that the youth have a lot of knowledge about HIV/AIDs. However, various external influences interfere with their change of sexual behavior. The study found that among the major factors that encourage sexual activity among the youth are sexual programme aired through the mass media, parental negligence, religious programmes that are irrelevant and do not address needs of the youth adequately, peer pressure and the internet. The study recommends that churches should demystify the impact of HIV/AIDs in the church since the church is an extension of the society and therefore a social institution.