Findings are reported from a study assessing the HIV/AIDS-related knowledge and attitude of 1020 students aged 12-15 years in Chandigarh. The students were of mean age 13.7 years and almost equally divided into males and females. 89% responded to the survey questionnaire. 65.92% of the students were exposed to both television and newspapers. The mean knowledge score of the study population was 11.35 of a maximum score of 25 with about half of the students scoring 12.5-18.75 and only 4.71% having knowledge scores greater than 18.75. There was no significant difference in knowledge between boys and girls and among different media exposure groups. Knowledge score and age were directly and positively correlated. 58.78% of the students had positive attitudes toward HIV-infected individuals with female students and students from English medium schools having more positive attitudes toward HIV/AIDS patients than did male students and those from Hindi medium schools. There was no difference in attitude among students of different ages. Students from upper and upper-middle classes those with better media exposure and those with higher knowledge scores had more positive attitudes. 86.73% wanted to know more about HIV/AIDS and more than half felt that AIDS education should focus upon safe sex. 66% believed that physicians rather than teachers or paramedics should teach students about AIDS. Almost 90% of the students knew that HIV can be transmitted through sexual intercourse and through the transfusion of infected blood while more than 75% knew the risk of HIV transmission through IV drug use. However many believed that mosquito bites blood donation and casual social contact could transmit the virus.
