Is this 1984 all over again? Do we still have people who have phobias against those with HIV and AIDS? I 1984 Ryan White was diagnosed with HIV and upon arrival back to his school in Kokomo, IN he was outcasted by those in the school as well as parents! How sad is it that in 2012 we are facing this same issue in Hershey, PA at the private school associated with the Hershey Company!! They claim they are protecting other students there. My issue with this is, what are you teaching them? The article I read mentioned that they were concerned since it is a 24 hour private school and they were concerned about the passing of the disease through sexual contact. Are you kidding me? Can we not teach students about abstinence anymore? Or can we not teach them about safe sex? Or bring awareness to the disease, the affect it has on one's life and how to prevent the spread of the disease! Instead, we are discriminating against a 13 year old child because of something probably not even his fault (I don't know how he contracted HIV) who has also met every other requirement to get admitted to the school.
This is the biggest sales day of the year for Hershey, I think we need to send them a message to let them know it's not ok to discriminate. Ryan White died in 1990, 6 years after his diagnosis. By the end of his life, he finally received acceptance from those around him, he was known nationwide. And even had Elton John sing at his funeral! Something tells me that teenage boy didn't need all of the excitement, he probably just wanted the next kid to be treated better than he was!
0 comments:
Post a Comment