MOORPARK : 7th-Graders Urge AIDS Education

Two seventh-grade students have urged Moorpark school officials to improve AIDS education at Chaparral Middle School, saying many children in those grades are sexually active.

“You’re probably thinking children at this age don’t have sex,” Jennifer Cooney told the board of the Moorpark Unified School District on Tuesday. “They do. . . . I think if they knew about AIDS and what it does to you, they wouldn’t be so promiscuous.”

Cooney said her uncle recently died of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sparking her interest in education about the disease.

Student Jenna Matinata suggested that district officials sponsor an assembly on AIDS awareness for middle school students.

The topic of AIDS, including how it is spread and how people protect themselves from it, is a required part of the health curriculum for seventh- and eighth-grade students at Chaparral. But Assistant Supt. Charles L. Smith was not sure how much time teachers spend on the subject.

The students’ comments contradicted recent statements by two school board members that the best way to prevent sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies among students is to advocate sexual abstinence.

Tom Baldwin and Pamela Castro have suggested that the district change its sex education program to focus exclusively on abstinence, at the expense of teaching other preventive measures against disease and unwanted pregnancy.