Education

Health Column

May 11, 1994 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

California students get about twice the amount of curricular hours on H.I.V./AIDS prevention as experts consider sufficient, according to an informal poll conducted by the California School Boards Association.

The poll, to which more than a third of the state’s districts responded, found that 95 percent of those districts offered some instruction relating to AIDS and the virus that causes it. Students receive a total of about 40 hours of instruction on the subject between kindergarten and grade 12, the poll found. Twenty hours are considered sufficient.

California districts nonetheless face many barriers to creating such programs, including parent and community objections, a lack of time and place in the curriculum, and a lack of appropriate instructional materials.

Several brands of crayons on the market contain dangerously high levels of lead, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission.

The commission has issued a recall of several brands of crayons made in China, some of which contain enough lead to be a health risk to children who chew on or eat the crayons.

Commission scientists are continuing to test imported crayons, including those from Indonesia, Taiwan, and Europe, to insure that they are safe for children to use.

Although crayons whose labels say “Conforms to ASTM D-4236'’ supposedly have been tested by a certified toxicologist, the commission said, one of the recalled brands falsely used the label. The C.P.S.C. advises that parents and teachers call the recalled-products hot line, (800) 638-2772, to get the latest list of products to avoid, including a listing of recalled brands of crayons.

More than a quarter of tubal insertions done to combat inner-ear inflammations among children are unnecessary, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes.

Tympanostomy tubes are used to alleviate a common inner-ear ailment known as otitis media, which can, in severe cases, cause hearing loss.

Doctors performed roughly 670,000 tube insertions in 1988, making the procedure the most common childhood operation, according to the study, which was conducted by a national program reviewing medical-services utilization.

But 27 percent of the operations conducted in 49 states and the District of Columbia between Jan. 1, 1990, and July 31, 1991, were “inappropriate,’' the study says.--SARA SKLAROFF

A version of this article appeared in the May 11, 1994 edition of Education Week as Health Column

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: March 13, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 21, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: February 7, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
8 min read
Education Briefly Stated: January 31, 2024
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read