Students Cry a Bit, Learn Life Lessons : Aftermath: Young people take Johnson’s announcement to heart. The talk quickly turns to sexual responsibility.

At one Garden Grove high school, Earvin (Magic) Johnson and AIDS was all anyone wanted to talk about Friday.

“Before Magic’s press conference, I never thought that I could get AIDS. But now . . ,” said Garden Grove High School student Ali Nemat, 16.

Christy Camarena, also a Garden Grove High student, said she thought it was “scary.”

“I thought about it, and one of my first reactions was that it can happen to anybody,” Camarena, 18, said. “A lot of the kids here were joking about it. Maybe because they can’t handle it. But it’s serious.”

In the hallways, around lockers or in the classrooms, students at several Orange County junior high and high schools were talking about Magic Johnson Friday--one day after the legendary Los Angeles Laker guard made the shocking announcement that he had tested positive for the virus that causes AIDS and was retiring from professional basketball.

Even math and economics classes became forums on Johnson and acquired immune deficiency syndrome as teachers led impromptu discussions on sexuality and the myths about what kinds of people are most vulnerable to the disease.

Most schools on Friday let the teachers themselves decide how detailed any class discussion on sexually transmitted diseases should become.

Garden Grove High Principal Peggy Mahfood said she was surprised that student after student walked up to her to ask about Johnson.

She said one former student who spent most of his time last year “talking about sex” seemed to have changed his attitude. She said the young man, who ran into her at a football game Thursday night, told her: “ ‘Sex is serious. You just don’t do it.’ ”

The faculty at TeWinkle Middle School in Costa Mesa, however, decided not to discuss sex and AIDS with the students, who are between 11 and 14 years old. Instead, Principal Mary Ann Ehret said, teachers focused on the “human interest” of Johnson’s bravery in announcing his condition and what effects his decision would have.

“They all felt it would be best not to get into” a sensitive issue,” she said of the teachers.

That was partly because state and Newport-Mesa Unified School District guidelines dictate that before a teacher can discuss issues such as AIDS, sex, abortion or birth control, the educator must first notify the students’ parents, Ehret said.

Students said that on Friday, the subject of what it means to become infected with HIV was discussed for the first time in some TeWinkle classrooms.

“We don’t really talk about it in any classes” normally, said John Maraya, 13, who is a member of the school basketball team.

Jeremy Osso, 14, his friend and teammate, agreed: “It just came up today because of Magic Johnson.”

At Suzanne Middle School in Walnut, Johnson’s announcement changed perceptions of the disease among some eighth-graders.

“You thought gays just had it,” said Anh Le, 13.

“More people are getting scared,” said Christina Tafesh, 13. “You never thought it would happen to one of the Lakers.”

At Inglewood High in Los Angeles County, Johnson is more than a distant sports figure. Johnson has led anti-drug rallies on the campus, which is less than a mile from the Los Angeles Lakers’ home court at the Forum, and the Lakers occasionally practice in the school gym.

“He knows a lot of the kids personally here,” Principal Kenneth Crowe said. “He eats around the street at the Belly-Dely. Everyone feels that he’s part of what goes on in this community.”

Teacher Eleanor Owen’s students said Johnson’s announcement has made them think in a new way about casual, unprotected sex.

“This really woke me up,” said Rondalyu France, a member of Owen’s class. “I will never have unprotected sex again. It can happen to anyone, including me.”

Student Sherrice King she will not depend on any boyfriend to protect her from AIDS. “I think young ladies can’t depend on a boy,” she said. “They have to depend on themselves. You can’t be afraid to go to the store or go to the clinic for condoms.”

Owen said she had no regrets about putting off a discussion of Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” until next week.

“This uses an opportunity and makes the most of it,” she said. “We can’t cure Magic, but we can use this opportunity. It has changed some of their lives and some of their attitudes.”

Garden Grove High math instructor Pat Haggerty said that a student interrupted her third-period class with a question. “She wanted to know if I had seen Magic Johnson’s announcement and what did I think of the whole thing,” Haggerty said.

Within minutes, the students, many of them teary-eyed, let go with a flood of questions, many expressing a lack of knowledge about AIDS.

“Some people told me that if you get HIV virus, it is a death sentence,” Ali Nemat said. “But after talking it over, I learned that it can negatively affect only about one-third of those who have tested positive for the virus.”

Garden Grove senior James Shin, 16, said that after the subject came up in his economics class, instructor Stacy Maxin stopped the class to turn the discussion to Johnson’s announcement, and AIDS.

“She handed out a two-page report that had information on AIDS and told about important dates such as when (the drug) AZT was discovered,” James said.

Man Tran, 17, a cornerback on the Garden Grove varsity football team, said Johnson’s statements shocked many of his teammates.

But their coach, Jeff Buenafe, has talked about the subject with them.

“It’s like Coach says, you really shouldn’t be having sex,” Man said. “He says abstinence is best. But if you do, to please think twice about it, because you don’t really know what’s out there, who has the disease.”

Times staff writers Marc Lacey, Hugo Martin, Jocelyn Stewart, Rose Kim, Sherry Joe, Collin Nash and Jonathan Gaw contributed to this story.