It may be a sunny day, but everything is not okay.
A little girl on a television program is sad because she misses her mother and she has no friends. Her mother died from AIDS and her classmates balk at the thought of playing with her because she herself is HIV positive.
This isn't an episode of "The Osbournes," "ER" or even one of those reality-based medical programs. It's a children's television program called "Takalani Sesame," the South African version of "Sesame Street." The yet to be named Muppet character will join the cast of the children's show this fall to help educate children in South Africa about the AIDS epidemic. Some 4.7 million South Africans, more than any other country in the world, are HIV positive.
While some parents may be concerned that programs targeted toward young viewers may not be the appropriate venues for addressing a controversial social issue such as AIDS, according to a Kansas State University professor of developmental psychology, these programs may be the perfect location for such a discussion to take place. John Murray said children's programming is a good forum for dealing with social issues. He said programs such as "Sesame Street," "Barney" and "Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood" have previously dealt with issues such as discrimination, child abuse and disabilities. Following the 9/11 tragedy the American version of Sesame Street cautiously touched on the issue of terrorist attacks.
"Children's programming, and 'Sesame Street' in particular, can be a wonderful format for talking to children about social issues related to growing up and getting along in the world as a young child," Murray said. "The program and the characters have great credibility with young children."
Murray said that while children's programming may be good place for dealing with social issues, using them for such might be of some concerns to parents.
"Now having said that, that may make some people nervous because 'my social issue' may not be 'your social issue,'" Murray said. "So you do get into that delicate area of what's an appropriate issue. But children's programming can deal with social issues very effectively by just raising awareness about the issue and showing alternative ways of handling the issue."
Murray said that social issues such as physical disabilities or AIDS can be very frightening to a child -- until it is carefully put into a context that they can understand. Once they do understand what the illness or disability is he said children can be as accepting, supportive and helpful as anyone else.
Murray said that as early as preschool is an appropriate age to discuss these issues. He urges caution, however, in those discussions.
"One of the things you want to communicate is an accurate picture that this is a serious issue and that the parent who is stricken needs a lot of help, Murray said. "At the same time you don't want to communicate that they are at risk to contract the disease or that people around them are just going to die. That's the tricky part. It's very difficult to put it into the context of reality and the context of hope for a medical breakthrough and advancement in medical treatment as well as in the context that not everyone contracts AIDS."
Although reports indicate the United States version of the program has no plans to introduce the South African character to viewers, Murray said talking to children about these issues is similar to communicating with children regarding the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
"The task for parents, teachers and others who work with young people was to communicate to them that this is real; that people have been hurt and killed," Murray said. "That this is a terrible tragedy but that you personally are not in danger, within the realistic bounds of what you can say about that."
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