17 States Require AIDS Education, Survey Finds

The number of states mandating AIDS education has more than tripled since last spring but funding for the programs remains scarce, a national education group reported Thursday after surveying policy and curricula in the nation’s school systems.

Seventeen states and the District of Columbia now require AIDS education, compared to five in June, the National Assn. of State Boards of Education said at a press conference detailing its findings.

Kindergarten Program

Although most of the education is geared for grades 7 through 12, some state programs start in elementary school and a few as early as kindergarten.

“This is not a time to mince words,” Phyllis Blaunstein, executive director of the association, said in calling for more extensive efforts to inform children 10 and older about the causes and dangers of the disease. “What young people don’t know can hurt them, will hurt them--and is hurting them.”

The group’s survey found that education about acquired immune deficiency syndrome in most states is incorporated into existing health or sex education classes, with only five state education boards specifically allocating funds for the training.

“Lack of personnel, money and time was a common complaint” about the current AIDS efforts, Blaunstein said. “Mandates without funding and comprehensive plans for teacher training, materials and education are not meaningful.”

‘Too Big to Worry About’

Despite the spread of educational programs, many sexually active youths still do not understand that there are precautions they can take to prevent infection, Blaunstein said. She quoted one valedictorian who said: “AIDS is kind of like nuclear war. It’s too big to worry about.”

She said that teachers involved in AIDS education complain that their programs are too vague--often omitting specific information on how to prevent sexual transmission of the disease.

“Our curriculum tells students that condoms and spermicide provide some degree of protection against AIDS,” one program director wrote in a survey response. “But we don’t explain how to use them, where to buy them or how to tell a new sex partner that you want him to use a condom.”

States with the most effective education have developed plans for all stages of child and adolescent development, Blaunstein said. For instance, Maine helps teachers integrate AIDS education into curricula beginning with kindergarten.

The national organization recently received a $150,000 grant from the federal Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta to develop AIDS education guidelines for seven states to be selected later.

Reaching Every Child

“Our goal is that every child have access to AIDS education that is consistent and presents facts in a balanced way,” Blaunstein said.

States that now require AIDS education are Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Virginia.

California requires that family life education courses discuss sexually transmitted diseases and recommends teaching high school students about AIDS.