Normandy High School in suburban St. Louis, Missouri.
Normandy, Mo., lies at the center of a public health crisis shrouded in unnecessary and potentially dangerous mystery.
CNN reports that someone — no one’s saying whom — has informed public health officials that as many as 50 students at the school may have been exposed to HIV. No one’s saying who might be infected, naturally, and no one’s saying how. That last part is a big problem.
The most important thing in a public health crisis is accurate information. Instead, Normandy officials remain tight-lipped about how infections may have occurred. Given the various ways in which HIV can be spread, wouldn’t it be a good idea to be as specific as possible in helping high school kids avoid risky behaviors.
Health officials wouldn’t say whether the infected person was a student or affiliated with the school, only that the person indicated as many as 50 students may have been exposed. Besides sexual activity, HIV can be spread through intravenous drug use, and even piercings and tattoos.
Without this information, the school community has fallen prey to paranoia. Amid of a flurry of secret testing to hide their identities, students regard each other with suspicion, canceling Homecoming dates and such, worried about who’s hiding his or her HIV.
My favorite part of the CNN report? The link to one of their cheesy, user-generated iReports, “Parents need to talk to their kids about sex.”
You think?
