In Tragedy, Health Officials See a Chance for Education : Public health: Johnson’s action will help the effort to increase awareness of the disease and help stop its spread.

Even as they feared for his future, public health educators in Orange County hailed Earvin (Magic) Johnson’s revelation about testing positive for the AIDS virus as a courageous move that provides the “greatest window of opportunity” yet to teach people about the deadly disease.

“Although it’s very tragic for him and his family, Magic Johnson has done more to bring this disease . . . to the forefront of public concern than everything we have done for the last several years,” said Susan Sullivan, a senior public health nurse and AIDS education coordinator at the Orange County chapter of the Red Cross, where telephone lines were jammed Friday with calls from students and the public seeking information about AIDS.

“When a public figure like Magic becomes ill and is willing to talk about this, it cuts through a lot of that denial--that ‘it can’t happen to me,’ ” Sullivan said. “It makes us see that everyone is vulnerable to this disease and that we all have to share the responsibility of this epidemic. . . . This is very significant event in the history of the AIDS epidemic.”

Under legislation signed by Gov. Pete Wilson in October, school districts will be required next fall to provide AIDS education to both junior and senior high school students. But Sullivan, as well as the county Department of Education and even a group of UC Irvine medical students, are already getting the word out to as many people--and students--as possible.

Johnson’s decision to go public with his condition will help that effort, said Linda Paire, who has been designing the AIDS curriculum to be taught in Orange County schools next year for the county Department of Education.

“Other than George Bush coming down with AIDS, no one could be a better spokesman about the risks (of getting AIDS),” Paire said of the 32-year-old basketball legend.

After all, Johnson “ate all the right food, he was in top physical shape,” she said. “We don’t exactly know how he got it. But we know it can happen to anyone, and that’s what people need to hear.”

National surveys indicate that 50% of high school students have had sexual intercourse, Paire said. Still, the AIDS curriculum she is devising will target the sexually inactive as well.

As mandated by the new law, AIDS instruction will be given in at least three 50-minute segments. There will be an emphasis on abstinence from sexual activity as the first, best resort for young people.

“We tell students that is a good choice until they are more mature and better able to make decisions,” Sullivan said. “We need to make it the peer norm that it is perfectly OK not to be sexually active yet.”

But students also need to know how AIDS is transmitted and how to reduce the risk of getting it, educators said. And that necessitates information about safe sexual practices, including using latex rubber condoms as a barrier to blood or semen. Young people also need to know how to negotiate sexual situations, how to stick by their standards and refuse to engage in high-risk sexual behavior.

Even commonplace practices such as ear piercing can carry a risk of exposure to the AIDS virus if needles are shared, Sullivan said. Youths who inject steroids to improve their physique or athletic performance also need to be wary.

“Boy, are there an awful lot of children out there who need this information,” Sullivan said.

Parents and students who do not want to wait for those classes next year can obtain information and arrange for speakers by calling the Red Cross AIDS Education Office at (714) 835-5381.

Wendy Nguyen, 17, a senior at Santiago High School in Garden Grove, already has. On Friday, she marched to the Red Cross to pick up posters and brochures to post at her school.

“Two nights ago, I was talking to a friend from La Quinta High, and he was starting an AIDS chapter there,” Nguyen said. “Then the next day we heard about Magic. I told myself, ‘That’s it. I’m going to try to get some education here.’ ”

Staff writer Lanie Jones contributed to this article.