New York City’s ‘Outmoded’ HIV/AIDS, Sex Education Curricula ‘Demand Prompt Attention,’ Editorial Says

New York City's "outmoded" HIV/AIDS and sex education curricula "deman[d] prompt attention" because "ignorance" about the consequences of sexual activity "disrupts learning" and "can kill," a Long Island Newsday editorial says. City school officials last week at a state Assembly hearing said that the city's sexual health curricula are "woefully inadequate," the editorial says (Long Island Newsday, 2/10). According to Dr. Roger Platt, director of the Office of School Health, the city schools' sex education curriculum has not been updated for 20 years and the AIDS curriculum has not been updated in 10 years (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/9). In addition, because the city has only 196 health teachers for 1,200 schools and the city's 10 school regions each have developed their own health curricula, "instruction is inconsistent," the editorial says. Although New York City Schools Chancellor Joel Klein has "acknowledged the need to update" the curricula, Klein's "complain[t]" that there is insufficient funding for the update "doesn't relieve him of his duty to equip students with tools to maintain their health," the editorial says, adding, "The need is every bit as urgent as knowing how to cross-multiply or read a map" (Long Island Newsday, 2/10).