Pupils Cry a Bit, Learn Life Lessons

Children in San Diego County and across Southern California expressed sympathy Friday for Magic Johnson, but chastised their hero for not practicing what schools have been preaching to them: safe sex.

“They’re always telling us to have safe sex, but what about the adults?” said Sheveann Hill, a 14-year-old at Lincoln Junior High School in Oceanside.

“That’s what he gets for not wearing a condom,” said Siaki Del Rio, an eighth-grader at Lincoln, reacting to the announcement Thursday that basketball superstar Earvin (Magic) Johnson had contracted the HIV virus and was retiring from basketball effective immediately.

Some San Diego County junior high schoolers, particularly girls, had little sympathy for the former basketball great.

“I don’t really care about what happened to him because he got it from someone other than his wife,” said Tammy LeSure, 13, an eighth-grader at Lincoln Junior High. Johnson married his longtime girlfriend, Cookie, in September.

Others at the school were more supportive.

“I think it’s kind of cold that he was sleeping with another woman, but I feel sorry for the guy because he was a great basketball player, and he helped a lot of kids,” said Teneshia Johnson, 13, also in the eighth grade.

Among the die-hard adolescent basketball fans, however, Johnson’s image as a hero remained untarnished.

“From a lot of other athletes you hear a lot of bad stuff about prostitutes and drugs, but the only thing you heard about Magic was that he was getting married or kissing Isiah Thomas or something. He was a great person and still is,” said Dan Laughlin, an eighth-grader at O’Farrell Junior High School in Southeast San Diego, who met Johnson once at a fund-raiser for the homeless four years ago.

“He’s still the same. He’ll always be my hero, even though he has” the HIV virus, said Rico Latasa, an eighth-grader at Lincoln Junior High.

Latasa was among many Southern California students and teachers Friday who said Johnson was on their minds all day Friday. They talked about his career, his game-winning shots, his smile, his charisma and their love for him. But they also talked about AIDS, death and their hope for a miracle.

In the neighborhood of the Los Angeles Lakers’ home court at the Forum, Inglewood High School teacher Eleanor Owen took time out from her lesson on “Wuthering Heights” on Friday morning to discuss a drama that hit closer to home.

“What I want to talk about now hasn’t been written in literature yet,” she told the classroom of seniors. “There isn’t a novel that we know of yet--but some day you’ll read about it.”

She then raised the topic of Magic Johnson and let the class take it from there.

“It made me cry a little--just a little,” said Carlos Delgado. “It’s sad. He fought all the way to get where he is, and now he has to fight for his life. You have to be a real man to say in front of everybody, ‘I have the HIV virus.’ ”

“It could be five people sitting in this class. All of you better start thinking,” said Andrea Myers, a student in Owen’s class. “There is a clinic across the street that gives away condoms, and some of you ought to get over there real soon.”

The somber talk--sometimes among youngsters too young to drive but old enough to know the basic facts about the deadly disease--often turned to mortality, condoms and sexual responsibility.

Many students said they did not believe the news when they first heard it. Many said the news would change their everyday lives. And all of them said they now understand that, if the disease can strike a near mythic figure like Johnson, it can strike anyone.

To some students, the message was simple:

“You shouldn’t be having sex with too many people,” said Jelani Matthews, an 11-year-old at O’Farrell Junior High.

Others put themselves in the shoes of Johnson’s wife, Cookie, who is seven weeks pregnant.

“I would wonder how he got it. I’d wonder about having kids and stuff,” said Matthews’ classmate, Patricia Monroe, 12.

Owen’s students said it made them think in a completely 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.”

Sherrice King, another student of Owens, said she won’t depend on any boyfriend to protect her from AIDS. “I think you 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 in putting off the discussion of Emily Bronte’s novel until next week.

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

And what happened to Magic isn’t all that far removed from great literature, she said.

“A hero,” she said, “is someone who sacrifices for the good of the whole.”

Ten-year-old Jason Newman, a student at Carpenter Elementary School in Studio City, said he has a poster of Johnson in his bedroom, the living room and the kitchen of his house.

“It was kind of crazy,” Jason said, remembering his initial reaction. “It’s just shocking. I hope they can come up with a cure quick. We need a miracle real fast.”

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.

Although most junior high schools students showed a high awareness of the difference between carrying the HIV virus and having AIDS, many elementary schoolchildren remained in the dark.

“He got the HIV something,” said Marcus McGill, a 10-year-old fifth-grader at Crestview Elementary School in Vista who wasn’t quite sure what it meant to carry the virus.

At Carpenter, many of the students said they respected Johnson’s openness.

“I’m glad that he was very straightforward,” Sam said. “You have to admire him for that.”

“He’s trying to go and help people to make sure that that doesn’t happen to them,” 11-year-old Gabrielle Valentin added.

The students now worry about their hero’s well-being.

“A lot of little kids with AIDS look to him for comfort,” Jerry Cheng, 14, of Suzanne Middle School in Walnut, said. “Now, who’s going to comfort him?”