NCJ Number
109151
Journal
Phi Delta Kappan Volume: 69 Issue: 5 Dated: (January 1988) Pages: K1-K12
Date Published
1988
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Major variations exist in the way that school systems handle cases of children with AIDS and in the content and timing of AIDS education in public schools.
Abstract
In Wilmette, Ill., an elementary school community has accepted the presence of a child with AIDS in the school and has protected the child's privacy. In contrast, the Ray family in Florida experienced major problems and the destruction of their home by suspected arson during their efforts to have their three hemophiliac sons educated in the local school. Confidentiality about the child's identity and rapid efforts to inform and educate the community appear to be the crucial factors in smooth handling of AIDS cases among schoolchildren. This illness has caused more fear and hysteria than any disease since the epidemics of influenza in 1918 and polio in the 1940's and 1950's. The American Academy of Pediatrics has agreed with the United States Centers for Disease Control that school age children with AIDS should be allowed to attend school, unless they are aggressive children who bite, children who cannot control their bodily excretions, and children with open lesions. The Federal Government has been accused of being slow to respond to the AIDS crisis. However, the National Institute of Justice is establishing a data bank to help police officers. Polls show that most Americans are aware of AIDS and favor AIDS instruction in school sex education classes. States have varied widely in their decisions about how best to educate people, however. Photographs and resource lists.