The Updated HIV/AIDS Curriculum is a K-12 instructional guide designed to meet the New York State Education Department’s and New York City Department of Education's mandates for instruction of this important topic.
To view the entire HIV/AIDS Curriculum, please
click here.
Why has New York City updated HIV/AIDS education?
New York City took the lead and developed its own HIV/AIDS curriculum for public school students in the 1990s. Information about the course of HIV/AIDS, its treatment, and its prevention has changed since the curriculum was first written. The updated curriculum also has new medical information to ensure scientific accuracy.
Is there really a need for these lessons?
Yes. New medications have improved the quality of life and increased life expectancy for people living with HIV/AIDS. Medical advances have also reduced the rate of HIV transmission during pregnancy and childbirth. Although these developments bring new hope, HIV/AIDS still poses a grave threat. There is still no cure for HIV infection. There is no vaccine to prevent it. Not everyone can benefit from the new medications. And research shows that significant numbers of young people still engage in behaviors that put them at risk for HIV infection.
How are teachers prepared to handle these sensitive and important health topics?
Through a series of training programs, administrators and teachers are being introduced to the updated curriculum. Principals are responsible for assuring that a minimum of five HIV/AIDS lessons are taught every year in elementary school, and six in every middle and high school grade. Training programs began in October 2005 and will continue into the spring.
How do the lessons help students to stay healthy?
The updated HIV/AIDS curriculum provides age and developmentally appropriate lessons to help children and adolescents understand the nature of HIV/AIDS, methods of transmission and prevention, and ways to support friends or loved ones who may be living with HIV/AIDS. Lessons use strategies that reinforce the importance of communicating with parents/guardians, teachers, and other caring and appropriate adults in their lives. Interactive activities foster communication skills, assertiveness, planning and goal setting, decision making, and limit setting.
What if a parent/guardian has concerns?
All schools have a copy of the updated HIV/AIDS curriculum, and we invite you to review it and communicate any questions, comments, or concerns to school staff. Please note that all children are required by New York State regulations to receive lessons on the nature of HIV/AIDS and its methods of transmission. Parents have the right to opt their children out of the individual lessons on methods of prevention. We believe that these lessons are age-appropriate and protective, but if you prefer, you may send a letter to your child’s principal requesting that your child be removed from the classroom when prevention lessons are given. Your letter must state that you will provide your own prevention lessons at home. You are welcome to request curriculum materials to help you do so.
Parent brochures explaining the Curriculum for grades K-5 are available in 9 languages. Please click here to view them.
Sample letters notifying parents about HIV/AIDS education are available in 9 languages. Please click here to view them. (The English version can also be found on page 348 of the Updated HIV/AIDS Curriculum).
SAMPLES OF WHAT STUDENTS LEARN
Grades K-3: General basics of disease prevention: washing hands, covering your mouth when you sneeze or cough, and cleaning and bandaging cuts. Later they learn not to touch other people’s blood, and to ask adults for help when someone is bleeding.
Grades 4-6: Activities focus on how to resist negative peer pressure and “choose companions who share your beliefs, values, and interests.” Lessons include drug-related HIV transmission. Students are told to stay away from alcohol and other drugs, and never to share needles or other sharp objects that can transmit blood from one person to another. Sexual transmission of HIV is introduced, and students are urged to abstain from sexual contact. Abstinence from sexual intercourse is emphasized as the only 100% effective way to prevent infection. Students are advised on how to cope with pressure not only from peers, but also from older adolescents who may attempt to coerce them into risky behaviors.
Grades 7-12: Adolescents learn to avoid alcohol and other drugs, which may impair their judgment and put them at increased risk for HIV/AIDS infection. They are strongly encouraged to abstain from sexual intercourse. Some lessons also address methods of prevention, including the correct and consistent use of latex condoms, which can greatly reduce the risk of HIV/STI infection among people who are sexually active. Lessons also address HIV testing and explore how HIV/AIDS has affected our society.
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