Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - The Voice of the West, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94119
Editorial
The bill also includes a gratuitous and disturbing provision that would eliminate a state requirement that all HIV prevention efforts "emphasize compassion for persons with AIDS."
Leaving aside for a moment the issue of the importance of instructing students about AIDS to prevent needless deaths, procedures already in place in no way leave out parents.
Current law requires school districts to inform parents about courses on AIDS prevention and to give them the option of pulling their children out of class on days that such instruction takes place.
As with other materials regarding sex, many schools invite parents to review the materials-from books to charts to props and videotapes-before deciding if they want their children included.
That process has worked well. Interested parents know what their children are being taught, they can remove the youngsters from the classes if they wish and schools are not bogged down in paperwork.
We respect the right of those parents to have their children learn about AIDS at home, in church or other nonschool settings.
However, not all parents are paying close attention to what goes on in the classroom. This legislation would rob many students whose parents-through laziness or lack of caring, not because of any thoughtful objection to the course-routinely fail to respond to school correspondence.
The fatal AIDS virus is spreading more swiftly than ever among American youngsters, with half of all new infections occurring in people younger than 25. What could be clearer evidence that straightforward information about the cause, effects and prevention of AIDS is desperately needed and that there currently is a grave lack of such information and follow-up discussion?
The issue is not one of parental rights, as San Francisco Independent Senator Quentin Kopp, a co-author of the bill, contends. Parental rights are already established.
The issue is education's role in informing students with the goal of saving young people's lives. Baldwin's legislation would seriously hamper those efforts.
As Dr. Chuck Willbelsman, chief of the teen clinic at Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco said, "This is opening the door to more irresponsible behavior by students."
The state should be doing everything it can to eradicate AIDS, not promoting legislation that champions ignorance.
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