SecEd The ONLY weekly voice for secondary education Inside this issue


HIV misconceptions still alive among teens


Abortion and teen pregnancy


Teen pregnancy can be one of the toughest subjects to tackle in the classroom. We hear some expert advice and look at what support is out there Page 12


CPD – where are you going?


Our fortnightly CPD page looks at planning your career and when the right time is to decide on whether you should specialise or not Page 13


Save our libraries


We hear the latest from the fight to safeguard both public and school library provision in the face of budget cuts Page 6


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Study shows that majority of young people would not shake hands, share a cup, or kiss someone with HIV by Dorothy Lepkowska


daily ritual of isolation, fear, rejec- tion and loneliness. “Young people have spe-


A campaign has been launched to help teachers to dispel misconceptions around HIV and Aids among young people, after new research showed that half of all students had too little information about the disease. The report, from Body and


Soul, which supports children and families living with HIV, revealed a discrepancy between what young people know about HIV and Aids and how they would behave towards someone living with the disease. It said schools needed to play a bigger role in combating prejudice. The study of 12 to 18-year-


olds in London found that while a majority young people knew how HIV was transmitted, they would not share a cup, shake hands or kiss someone who had the disease. There was also a perceived stigma of having a relationship with some- one with HIV. However, young people wanted


to know more and cited teachers and schools as the most trustworthy sources of information. The char- ity has now launched a campaign called Life in my Shoes which aims to dispel the common myths and negative attitudes among and towards young people living with the disease. Ros Burkinshaw, head of youth


services at Body and Soul, said: “For the approximately 16,000 peo- ple in Britain under the age of 24 who are HIV-positive, life can be a


cial challenges when it comes to understanding and talking about the disease, and stigma starts at an early age. The goal of Life in my Shoes is to talk to youth about HIV in a language they can understand; to put the stories of their peers at the forefront, to dispel myths, and engage them with the subject matter in a way that is both informative and educational.” Lucie Jones-Lee, head


of citizenship and PHSE at Willowfield Humanities College in Walthamstow, said the idea of having HIV in their midst was a “remote concept” to many pupils. “If you ask young people who


they think is most affected by HIV and Aids they will tend to respond that this is a disease of Africa and the developing world,” she said. “It is hard to imagine that this is an issue that is discussed at home, so pupils must get their information from somewhere. “Thirty years ago there were


public information films and people were better informed but these days issues around HIV and Aids seem to have slipped off the radar. It isn’t a difficult thing to broach or discuss with students but teachers need to feel confident and knowledgeable so they can dispel some of the mis- conceptions. “We can only keep our children


safe and well by talking about these things.” Benly, a 17-year-old college stu- dent from London, who was born


with HIV, told SecEd that few peo- ple in his life, apart from close family and friends, know about his condition. “I am constantly worried about


being stigmatised,” he said. “Yet looking at me no-one would know there was anything wrong. “Generally, people I’ve told


have tended to go quiet and then either ask lots of questions or say nothing at all. It can feel very strange when they do that as no-one knows what to say. “I’ve found myself sitting quiet-


ly in lessons where this has been dis- cussed because I don’t want to give away how much I know or why. I suppose I could say that I’ve read about it in a book, but people tend to know I’m not really into reading, and it would arouse suspicion. “I am surprised though at how


many misconceptions there are and that people think that HIV and Aids is the same thing. It would be good to remove the stigma of living with HIV. None of us who are in this situation want to be like this.” The Life in my Shoes cam-


paign will include a feature film, which will give an insight into the lives of young people who are HIV-positive, and how it affects their lives. Production will begin in April with release scheduled for the autumn. The curriculum resource is being


written in conjunction with teachers, and is supported by TeachFirst, the Greater London Authority, the PSHE Association and the National Lottery. For more information, visit www.lifeinmyshoes.org


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