How many of us can claim ignorance surrounding the topic of HIV? Undoubtedly, too many. With over 33 million people living with HIV and AIDS globally, you would think we, as a society and community, would care to become more well-versed.

And this question comes at a very pertinent time in our country, for 2011 marks the 30th anniversary of the emergence of HIV. Efforts have been made and headway has been achieved, yet the story of a young 13-year-old boy in Hershey, Pennsylvania (PA), proves, unabashedly, the amount of work that needs to be done and the overwhelming surge of ignorance that must be eradicated.

The Milton Hershey School in Hershey, PA – a school that prides itself on serving “children from families of low income, limited resources, and social need” – recently denied a young 13-year-old admission to their school because of his known HIV+ status. The school recent said in a statement, “We cannot accommodate the needs of students with chronic communicable diseases that pose a direct threat to the health and safety of others.”

Let’s examine more closely the reasons why the Milton Hershey School is exemplifying extremely outdated, archaic, and stigmatizing attitudes towards this particular case.

1. Unlike the common cold, Tuberculosis, and various other communicable illnesses, HIV is not considered a highly contagious infection, and has been proven by society and science within the past 30 years that the probability of spreading through normal, everyday interaction is slim to nill.

2. “It shouldn’t be the responsibility of a 13-year-old boy to teach the Milton Hershey School about the science of HIV or the moral obligation educators have to meet the needs of all students,” said Lawrence, the young man who has started a petition against the actions of the school on Change.org.

3. The overtly ignorant and hurtful claims from the school against this 13-year-old boy only serve to exacerbate the stigmatization of those individuals living with HIV, all the while contributing to a culture of ignorance that will only proliferate these false truths surrounding HIV.

Want to know what you can do? Join BABES Network and sign this petition on Change.org, telling the Milton Hershey School that their actions against this 13-year-old boy are discriminatory, ignorant, and hurtful, and will not be tolerated.