Now I've heard everything. In an effort to show how sexually transmitted diseases are spread, a group doing a demonstration for students stepped into a sticky mess.
It was a novel class exercise: Ask a room full of Montgomery County high school students to take turns chewing the same piece of gum.
To demonstrate how sexually transmitted diseases are spread, a visiting speaker invited students to share gum in health classes at four county high schools in December and last month. School officials said a total of about 100 students participated in the lessons, although some declined to chew the gum.
Education and health officials say the gum exercise was unsanitary and should not have happened. The speaker and the clinic, a pregnancy counseling center with a religious orientation, are no longer welcome in Montgomery schools, school officials said.
The article on washingtonpost.com reports that administrators and school board members revoked permission for the group to speak in schools after learning of the saliva sharing exercise from a complaining parent. Students felt comfortable participating in the lesson because the speaker told them she had taught the lesson many times.
"This basically is an unacceptable and unsanitary practice. It should never occur," said Judith Covich, director of school health services at the county health department. "The risk is about the same as sharing a glass, sharing the same straw." The practice carried a low risk of spreading the cold or flu, she said.
I can just hear the after school conversations now. "Don't drink after your sister. Wash your hands before dinner. Cover your mouth when you sneeze. Now, tell me what you did in school today."