j----_. - New York Civil Liberties Union

Mahopac 348
The AIDS instructional program should be sequentially
designed and coordinated with the K-12 health
education program. The AIDS Instructional Guide:
Grades K-12 provides sample lessons for grade-level
clusters (K-3, 4-6, 7-8, and 9-12) as suggestions for local
choice and adaption to local circumstances. Activities
are placed at the grade level at which it is most likely
that positive health behaviors may be practiced.
The lessons promote the development of students'
reasoning and problem-solving skills, skills which
form a basis for discussion and decision making within
the context of values. Within the framework of .these
values, consistent with the advice of public health authorities,
the lessons focus on the objectives:
G
There are some diseases that are communicable
diseases.
- AIDS is a communicable disease.
• There are skills to practice that will lead to a
healthful lifestyle.
• There are community
help, and counseling.
resources for information,
" There are methods of prevention for AIDS.
" There are social and economic implications of
AIDS.
An effective AIDS instructional program should
complement the 11 conceptual areas contained within a
comprehensive health education program for the purpose
of maintaining, reinforcing, or enhancing the behaviors
conducive to positive health practices.
Much has already been said about AIDS instruction
within health education and, to the extent that understanding
values is important, the values implicit in
AIDS instruction must be consistent with the values in
all subject areas. Regarding health education, the term
"comprehensive health education program" has another
meaning. In this second sense, health education
is comprehensive in that a complete program involves
connections between the school, the home, and the
community. The Health Education Syllabus: Grades K-12
and the AIDS Instructional Guide: Grades K-12 address
pedagogical facets of an effective instructional program,
but a comprehensive program must involve the
home and the community. Classroom instruction
should not be perceived as the only, or even the most
prominent, influence on what students do about
health. Family members, peers, media messages, and
other social and community forces may also influence
how students behave and what they value. Cooperation
among school, home, and community fosters a
clear and positive message to students which has the
potential to offset the negative influences they, may ~xperience.
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