South Carolina House to Debate School-Notification Law
A bill that would remove a South Carolina law requiring students’ HIV test results to be reported to their schools will go in front of the state house of representatives this week, South Carolina’s The State reports (thestate.com, 4/21).
The bill, filed by state senator Brad Hutto, has already passed the senate. If it is passed by the house, the bill would eliminate the requirement that the Department of Health and Environmental Control notify a school district superintendent and school nurse if a student tests positive for HIV.
Hutto and other lawmakers say the current law could deter students from getting tested for fear that others will find out if they test positive.
“It’s superfluous information that (superintendents and nurses) can’t act upon,” said Hutto. “They can’t notify another student or teacher or parent. They can’t send the student for counseling. It’s knowledge that has no purpose. So why have it at all?”
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Beth Benne, RN, is HIV negative, but
the virus has impacted her life. She currently supervises a biannual HIV/AIDS awareness week as
the director of the student health center at Pierce College, a
community commuter school in Woodland Hills, California.
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Overheard in the Women's Forum
"I think that it's OK to be angry. I am sometimes—it's natural—we are HIV positive. but I always try to not let myself stay there too long. Let yourself feel you are human. You should not beat yourself up about being angry."
