To quote one of the parents of Monadnock High School students, we’re “baffled that this even happened.” In response to the outrage and confusion of parents of MHS students, New Hampshire school officials have asked AIDS Services of Monadnock County never to return to their schools.
As they do every year, AIDS Services visited the school with a quilt and a message. Only this year, they handed out baggies of condoms, lubricant and a piece of candy.
Mom Susan Bernstein tells WHDH 7, “The candy just didn’t seem to be an appropriate part of the mix.”
“Why would they give them adult things?” another parent asks.
After telling WMUR 9 that administrators were to blame, school board member Bruce Barlow told Fox News that administrators were “blindsided” by the kits.
“[The presentation] was about AIDS. It wasn't about safe sex,” Barlow said. He told Fox that AIDS Services should have “Let the children in. Let them look at the AIDS quilt. And have the grace to shut up. ... I'm sorry. This is high school. At the moment that you introduce safe sex kits, nobody is thinking about safe sex, and nobody is thinking about AIDS anymore."
Is there an election coming up, Brucie?
AIDS Services executive director Susan MacNeil says that's just not true. She showed various news crews copies of emails sent to her by the school's administration saying they'd decided to hand the kits out.
MacNeil tells WMUR-TV the lubricant was included to prevent the condoms from breaking. "Our job is to bring about a message of sound, scientifically based HIV prevention, and that's what the safe sex kits are all about," she said.
Fox asked MacNeil what flavored lubricant has to do with safe sex, but cut her off after she explained that "lubricant's lubricant, whether it's flavored or not."
So what if we removed the lube and candy, since they seem to be the point of controversy? Would we then be allowed to teach teenagers how to protect themselves from HIV? What a mess.
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As they do every year, AIDS Services visited the school with a quilt and a message. Only this year, they handed out baggies of condoms, lubricant and a piece of candy.
Mom Susan Bernstein tells WHDH 7, “The candy just didn’t seem to be an appropriate part of the mix.”
“Why would they give them adult things?” another parent asks.
After telling WMUR 9 that administrators were to blame, school board member Bruce Barlow told Fox News that administrators were “blindsided” by the kits.
“[The presentation] was about AIDS. It wasn't about safe sex,” Barlow said. He told Fox that AIDS Services should have “Let the children in. Let them look at the AIDS quilt. And have the grace to shut up. ... I'm sorry. This is high school. At the moment that you introduce safe sex kits, nobody is thinking about safe sex, and nobody is thinking about AIDS anymore."
Is there an election coming up, Brucie?
AIDS Services executive director Susan MacNeil says that's just not true. She showed various news crews copies of emails sent to her by the school's administration saying they'd decided to hand the kits out.
MacNeil tells WMUR-TV the lubricant was included to prevent the condoms from breaking. "Our job is to bring about a message of sound, scientifically based HIV prevention, and that's what the safe sex kits are all about," she said.
Fox asked MacNeil what flavored lubricant has to do with safe sex, but cut her off after she explained that "lubricant's lubricant, whether it's flavored or not."
So what if we removed the lube and candy, since they seem to be the point of controversy? Would we then be allowed to teach teenagers how to protect themselves from HIV? What a mess.
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I once again bring up the point that contraception was taught in my Catholic high school. Yes, they liked to emphasize the failure rates, but it was taught. Preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS is very important in today's society. It almost seems like people are forgetting that HIV and AIDS are still around, despite efforts to prevent it and the medications that can slow this awful disease's progress.