Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Lessons on AIDS Get Good Marks : Education: Program was once thought too graphic for elementary children, but survey of parents shows most approve of material.

A controversial AIDS education program presented to groups of parents and their children in March by the Sulphur Springs School District satisfied most participants despite earlier fears that it was too graphic for children, according to a survey released Monday.

Only one of the 71 residents who completed the survey said the program didn’t provide an opportunity to talk more about AIDS with their children in the future, and only three residents felt the material was inappropriate for their children.

“This program should be mandatory for all kids in the school,” wrote one parent.

“I appreciate your willingness to address a very difficult (and) demanding subject,” wrote another parent.

Trustees are expected to review the surveys at their regular meeting Wednesday night and decide whether to offer the voluntary instruction in future years.

Information was presented in three meetings, with parents attending alongside their children and the AIDS information modified for each grade level.

A registered nurse, a college health science professor, a local AIDS expert and an assistant superintendent conducted the meetings.

The largest turnout was for the kindergarten-through-second-grade session, with about 125 people attending.

About 50 people attended the sessions for third- and fourth-graders and fifth- and sixth-graders.

Two AIDS presentations in January prefaced the program and featured more explicit information for parents only.

“Our goal was to get parents to talk to their children about these things,” said Marc Winger, assistant superintendent of instructional services.

At the March meetings, the youngest children were told about the importance of good health and hygiene habits, asked if they had heard about AIDS and reassured they couldn’t catch the disease.

“The message they heard was they couldn’t get it; it’s not something a small kid can get,” Winger said.

Children in the third and fourth grades learned that AIDS was an attack on the immune system and involved bodily fluids. Those in fifth and sixth grades were told about transmission of the disease, without specific examples, and that the only definite method of prevention is abstinence.

There was no talk of condoms or other ways to safeguard against the disease while participating in high-risk behavior.

“These are sixth-graders. They shouldn’t be messing around with drugs or sex,” said Winger. “Abstinence is the only message we want them to get out of this.”

Despite overall satisfaction with the program, a few parents were concerned about telling the youngest group they couldn’t catch AIDS. Others disagreed whether too much or too little information was presented.

“The content might not (have) needed to be in such detail at this age level,” said a parent at the third- and fourth-grade session. “Some of the parents’ questions should have been at the parent-only meeting.”

More coverage of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys appears today on B7.