(Note: sorry if this shouldn't be in here. Moderators may feel free to lock this thread if they see this thread unsuitable.)
I just came across this article on one of my local newspaper's online portal, about how a school pratically wasted S$40,000 (US$23,600 approx., ?19,750 approx., ?13,350 approx.) just because the parents of the children going to that school made a grand fuss all out of a simple misunderstanding and ignorance of how H.I.V. (Human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes Aids) spreads. The original article can be read here. In my opinion, the school should not have spent any of that money and should have instead made those parents learn the correct facts about H.I.V.. The parents are all getting their facts about H.I.V. wrong - H.I.V. CANNOT be spread through conventional means - only direct contact with a H.I.V. positive person can spread it, such as direct contact with infected blood or certain body liquids. Worse still, all of this began just because the parents made the blanket assumption that all homosexuals are definitely H.I.V. positive (the controversy centred around a teacher who was a homosexual). Yes, being a homosexual rises your chance of contacting H.I.V., but that doesn't mean that all homosexuals are H.I.V. positive. Besides (and even worse still), nobody knew whether that teacher was really H.I.V. positive or not. But, thanks to ignorance, large amounts of money are spent replacing working furniture and teaching aids, and on needless refurbishing of the school building. What is the message are we trying to spread? Are we going to convey the wrong message, and make people think that the beliefs held by the parents are right? Are we going to make an already misunderstood group of people even more misunderstood here?
I just came across this article on one of my local newspaper's online portal, about how a school pratically wasted S$40,000 (US$23,600 approx., ?19,750 approx., ?13,350 approx.) just because the parents of the children going to that school made a grand fuss all out of a simple misunderstanding and ignorance of how H.I.V. (Human immunodeficiency virus, the virus that causes Aids) spreads. The original article can be read here. In my opinion, the school should not have spent any of that money and should have instead made those parents learn the correct facts about H.I.V.. The parents are all getting their facts about H.I.V. wrong - H.I.V. CANNOT be spread through conventional means - only direct contact with a H.I.V. positive person can spread it, such as direct contact with infected blood or certain body liquids. Worse still, all of this began just because the parents made the blanket assumption that all homosexuals are definitely H.I.V. positive (the controversy centred around a teacher who was a homosexual). Yes, being a homosexual rises your chance of contacting H.I.V., but that doesn't mean that all homosexuals are H.I.V. positive. Besides (and even worse still), nobody knew whether that teacher was really H.I.V. positive or not. But, thanks to ignorance, large amounts of money are spent replacing working furniture and teaching aids, and on needless refurbishing of the school building. What is the message are we trying to spread? Are we going to convey the wrong message, and make people think that the beliefs held by the parents are right? Are we going to make an already misunderstood group of people even more misunderstood here?
