Firsthand AIDS Testimonials Defended

By LISA FERNANDEZ

Oct. 31, 1997 12 AM PT

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

THOUSAND OAKS — A small gathering of teens, mothers and a Thousand Oaks woman with AIDS told Conejo Valley school trustees Thursday night that accounts of real-life experiences are crucial for sex education classes.

“Doctors and nurses are appropriate sometimes,” said 16-year-old Sarah Canales, a junior at Thousand Oaks High School. “But it’s much more real and has a much bigger impact” when students learn about AIDS from the patients themselves, she said.

Many teachers and students in the Conejo Valley Unified School District have said they believe the district bars people with AIDS from speaking on school campuses.

Despite the perception, Supt. Jerry Gross insists there is no such rule.

However, district officials acknowledge that principals may be reluctant to allow these speakers because people with AIDS are not necessarily trained experts or educators.

Getting parental permission--which the law requires for all sex-related curriculum--also can be inconvenient, and certain AIDS speakers have told students inappropriate stories in the past, officials say.

The issue was not on the board’s agenda Thursday, and trustees took no action on the question of AIDS speakers.

But board President Mildred Lynch reiterated her concerns that some AIDS presentations are improper for students.

She recalled a county-run AIDS-awareness program for teachers she witnessed a few years back, which she called “outrageous.”

“What I heard there, I would not recommend for the classroom,” she said. “Those people who spoke that day dealt with things that I would not mention to you in mixed company. Those sexual practices are not essential in warning people against this disease.”

She acknowledges, however, that the topic of AIDS is important.

“This has nothing, though, to do with the disapproval of AIDS awareness,” she said. “Hey, I raised five children and 10 grandchildren. . . . I was a teacher for nearly 40 years. Why would I want to do anything that would harm young people?”

Felice Jones, a 37-year-old model with AIDS who has addressed Conejo Valley students off campus, said she understands some people’s fear in talking about such a scary disease.

Jones said she has no “personal agenda” in relating her life story to others.

“It’s not me pushing to go into the schools,” she said before the meeting. “I know it seems kind of strange for me to be saying that. But I don’t have children, and I can’t tell others what is appropriate.”

For those who want to listen and learn, however, Jones said she is willing to tell about her life with AIDS. She and two other Ventura County residents spoke last Thursday to about 20 people at the Thousand Oaks Teen Center.

Sarah’s mother, Nancy Reed, who heard Jones speak at the AIDS workshop, said she is eager to learn more about a disease that hospital statistics show has affected up to 700 people in the Conejo Valley.

“Until last week, I was naive enough to think I’d never be in the same room as someone with AIDS,” Reed said. “But my eyes have been opened.”