A SURE SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE!

unclehobart

unclehobart

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Sesame Street to introduce HIV-positive Muppet
Thu Jul 11, 6:23 PM ET
By Bernie Woodall

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sesame Street will soon introduce its first HIV ( news - web sites)-positive Muppet character to children of South Africa, where one in nine people have the virus that can lead to AIDS ( news - web sites).

The upbeat female Muppet will join "Takalani Sesame" on September 30 for its third season on the South African Broadcasting Corporation.

The character -- which has yet to have a name or final colour or form -- will travel to many if not all of the eight other nations that air versions of the educational children's show that began in the United States in 1969, said Joel Schneider, vice president and senior adviser to the Sesame Street Workshop.

Schneider said talks are under way to introduce an HIV-positive character to U.S. viewers.

Schneider announced the new character this week at the 14th International AIDS Conference in Barcelona, Spain, where he spoke by telephone on Thursday.

"This character will be fully a part of the community," Schneider said. "She will have high self-esteem. Women are often stigmatised about HIV and we are providing a good role model as to how to deal with one's situation and how to interact with the community."

The program is aimed at children from 3 to 7 and the messages delivered by the new character will be "appropriate," said Schneider, meaning that there will be no explicit mention of sex.

"Not every show will deal explicitly with HIV/AIDS," Schneider said. "We want to show that here is an HIV-positive member of our community who you can touch and interact with.

"We will be very careful to fashion our messages so they are appropriate to the age group. What do I do when I cut my finger? What do I do when you cut your finger? That sort of thing."

"Takalani Sesame" will be the second children's show in South Africa to have an HIV-positive character. But it is believed to be the first among shows designed for preschoolers, said Beatrice Chow, spokeswoman for the Sesame Street Workshop in New York.

In some parts of South Africa, 40 percent of women of child-bearing age are infected with HIV, and in 2000, about 40 percent of adult deaths in South Africa were attributed to AIDS, according to the U.S. State Department.
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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20020711/od_uk_nm/oukoe_life_sesamestreet_1&printer=1
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holy crap .. I thought you were going to say the world was running out of beer

*whew*
 
how the hell do you explain a disease of that magnitude to a 5 year old? can't we let kids be kids anymore-innocent & naive :grumpy:
 
Gonz said:
how the hell do you explain a disease of that magnitude to a 5 year old? can't we let kids be kids anymore-innocent & naive :grumpy:
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Agree on that one...why scare them with something they're not old and wise enough for to understand? It serves no purpose.
 
Sesame street may be a bit much, but don't kid yourselves, there are sexually active kids that are 11, 12 years old. Don't wait too long to let them know what is out there. Really suck for them to find out the hard way.
 
That's why he said:

Sesame Street may be a bit much
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;)

But I agree on PuterTutor that people shouldn't wait too long with explaining the kids the risks of AIDS and how they can have a change to get it.
And more important: how to prevent them from getting it.
 
this is the way I see it ...

if SS were approaching this from a "sensitivity" standpoint, showing and demonstrating that children who suffer from this disease are still children and still need friends and love, then I think, with some tact, it might be ok. They should also demonstrate the way children can be friends with other kids who have diseases "safely" like don't be afraid to give them a hug... but if they have a cut, call an adult right away ... I don't know if that's too much for a lot of little kids but like I said, I guess it depends on the perspective - where SS is coming from.

And I guess it would help me understand if I actually read the story unc posted .. but I didn't :D
 
Exactly, thank you shadow.

I think 5 and 6 year olds are a little young to be explaining the nature of AIDS to, but then again, Nalani brings up a really good point, what happens when our sons best friend has AIDS, and they are playing a little rough, and scrape bloody knees together? We have to start talking to our kids about this stuff people. Ignoring it is not going to make it go away.
 
That new muppet is for South Africa's version of Sesame Street. It is affiliated with, but not controlled by, the US Sesame Street, the Mexican Sesame Street, or any other Sesame Street. Please folks...read the whole article before passing this kind of judgement.
 
HL, I'm checking to see if the Vchip thingy on the satelite receiver can be set to block it. Likewise, the missus has been informed that SS is no longer acceptable programming chez nous. Someone add this to my PC thread. It definitely belongs.
 
We'll leave it on the OK list until they bring in a similar character HERE. Then it's out.

BTW, my wife disagrees with me. She thinks that in a society with the kind of infection rates that SA has, it's a good idea, since you can't protect your kids from everything. My response is that (at 1 year of age) protecting him from everything is my fucking job.

It got a little heated this weekend. In the end, I'm probably gonna have to decide what she gets in return for giving me this one.
 
HomeLAN said:
It got a little heated this weekend. In the end, I'm probably gonna have to decide what she gets in return for giving me this one.
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Tell her that as educational programming Sesame Street is anti-conceptual.
 
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