Mayde in the Shade
I spent this morning with about 60 students at Mayde Creek High School in the Katy Independent School District. Thanks to the work of their science teacher, Phyllis Palmer, and the willingness of their parents, those MCHS students got to hear important information about HIV/AIDS. Information that may one day save their lives.
I salute the teachers and principals at Mayde Creek because all too often, schools and district administrators are reluctant to allow open discussions of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases to take place within their institutions. As a result, students often mistakenly believe they are not at risk. And that is a dangerous myth.
The numbers are disturbing. In the city of Houston, adolescents between the ages of 13 – 19 account for 5% of the new HIV infections. That translates into 60 teenagers in Houston contracting HIV each year!
Sixty Houston teenagers a year will have to face the physical, emotional, and financial devastation of HIV disease. Illness and opportunistic infections, possible rejection by family members and sexual partners, stigma, social isolation, doctors and tests and pills, and a lifelong pricetag for the disease that tops $600,000 – these are the harsh realities that must be addressed when one lives with HIV.
Mayde Creek High School set an example this morning that we should all follow. All of us must work to ensure our young people know the facts about HIV/AIDS, and we must be certain they know how to protect themselves and prevent new infections. It’s the only way to insure our future and theirs…
