SAN DIEGO -- On this World AIDS Day one statistic stands out: the rise in infections among teenagers. But one local group of young people is working to turn the statistics around.

Volunteers from the San Diego Youth Council were at Sweetwater High School in National City during lunchtime Tuesday to hand out information and talk to students about how to prevent HIV infection.

"They don't really take it seriously," one volunteer said. Sadly, the statistics back her up.

Recent surveys show fewer than one-third of sexually active teens have been tested. When asked why they haven't been tested, 40 percent said they don't think they've done anything that puts them at risk. Also, more than two-thirds of 15 to 17-year-olds said they don't know where to get tested.

Sweetwater student body president Larissa Garcia said that people her age need to be shocked into taking HIV/AIDS seriously.

"This is your life right here," Garcia said. "If you don't get tested, you'll die at a young age… "

When it comes to getting that all-important test, the students from Sweetwater are lucky. All they have to do is go across the street to a youth center where they can get a free test for HIV.

The HIV test is quick and easy: a swab around the mouth and 20 minutes later, the results are ready.

The youth center's Jason Navarro said that reaching students means getting them to focus on their future. "About what their goals are and how are they going to reach those goals, and how this can affect them," he said.

Navarro and the other volunteers are trying to spread the information young people need to stop the spread of HIV.