I'm glad to see a few congressman with sensible feelings on this issue. The demographic for Sesame Street, at least in the US, is way too young to need to hear about AIDS. If US Sesame Street gets an HIV positive puppet, I'll be using some other form of visual stimulation for my children, without the help of Bert or Kermit.
The letter sent to PBS includes the following, which I do feel is appropriate and should be considered heavily by the broadcasting company.
"We would like to inquire as to whether there is other PBS programming, aimed at an older age group, which may be more suitable for such sensitive messages."
Re:well, it wasn't for the US anyway
cwest on 2002-07-15T11:46:05
Yeah, I think it's a good thing for South Africa. I had no idea there was such a myth, thinking about it has put a damper on my morning already.
I just don't want my children to ask me about AIDS when they're four years old. It will be hard enough to explain why the sky is blue (It's hard to make some adults understand why the sky is blue.).
Re:well, it wasn't for the US anyway
hfb on 2002-07-15T14:50:43
Just for South Africa? AIDS is everywhere and it's breathtaking to watch the world turn a blind eye to a disease that is merely in check and not cured. The Economist has a report on the International AIDS Conference in the latest issue. AIDS is still alive and very well in the US but we just never hear about it since the pharmaceutical companies are getting paid for the drugs that put it into remission.
Kids are free of the baggage that accumulates with age and if they are exposed to things early, there may be hope for the future. Sesame Street is a bit hard core though.
You Can't Hide
mako132 on 2002-07-16T14:13:14
My kids are slightly younger and older. It is my belief that it is a mistake to hide the ugliness of the world from children. True, you have to be careful as some things can cause nightmares or irrational fear.At the same time, you can point out the beauty in the world, and show how it can be found in unsuspecting places.
I think that one reason why when children become teenagers and get so angry and disenchanted is that they are discovering the ugliness and the hypocrisy parents have hidden from them. We don't want them to lose their trust in us.
Re:Blood
cwest on 2002-07-15T12:08:09
Stick to teaching numbers and letters and spanish, don't scare my children with bleeding puppets.Re:Blood
Elian on 2002-07-15T18:01:24
Casey, you're a straight middle class christian white boy. Sesame Street, in any of its forms, isn't targeted at you or your kids. In this case the muppet's for the South African show and, given the AIDS rates there amongst the population in general and kids in specific (I see the "rape a virgin" thing that's floating around sub-saharan africa's been mentioned) it's dead-on appropriate. In the US, Sesame Street's targeted at urban kids, and any spillover they get in other community's just a bonus. (And Sesame Street doesn't, and never has, scared kids. You know better)
More to the point, though, if you haven't talked to your kids about AIDS and other infectious diseases in general (in many parts of the world its the equivalent of living in the early part of the 20th century and not talking to your kids about polio), along with a whole slew of other things I'd bet you're dodging, you're doing your kids a huge disservice. The world is not a homogenous place, nor is it particularly a nice one. It will never be one. Pretending it is--and that's what you're doing--leaves your kids horribly ill-suited to deal with the world when they get older. Hell, it leaves them ill-suited to deal with the world now.
Don't duck the questions, and don't hide the world's warts from your kids. You don't have to go into details--they're little, that's fine--but do talk to them, and keep talking as they get older. It doesn't matter how much you might find the subjects uncomfortable (that you find a subject uncomfortable or objectionable is probably a sign that it's something you do need to talk to your kids about) you have to talk to them. It's your job as a parent, if you don't want your kids screwed up, or worse, as they get older. If you can manage, try not being judgemental, though that's tough sometimes. The last thing you want is foty your kids to not want to talk you you about a friend's (or their) alcohol/drug problem because you go ballistic about it, or feel the need to run away because they're gay and you do the slavering homophobe thing.
In highschool I knew a lot of kids whose parents thought like you likely do. (Heck, I was one of them) Some of them ended up mostly OK, but a lot of them... a lot of them didn't. You don't want your kids to be alcoholics before they hit college, or wrap themselves and their car around a tree, ducking out to the city for a weekend abortion, or finding that "Just Once" is too many times for something like crystal meth, or that "Uncle Ralph" (or "Pastor Ralph") has been fondling them for the past few years. (The numbers, if you want to be scared, are 1 in 5 girls, and 1 in 7 boys)
Your children will know the world's not an altogether nice place. Kids aren't stupid. But if you pretend it is, they won't talk to you about it. You don't want that to happen.Re:Blood
jdavidb on 2002-07-16T15:26:18
I'm a straight middle class Christian white boy, and always thought Sesame Street, while obviously urban in nature, was for all of America's kids. I grew up on it.
Pretending it is--and that's what you're doing--leaves your kids horribly ill-suited to deal with the world when they get older.
Asking the government to help solve your kids problems and be your kid's primary teacher probably doesn't help much, either.
:) Of course, I know there are many kids with crummy non-present or non-existent parents and shows like Sesame Street really help them. Who says Casey is pretending the problems don't exist? Maybe he'd just rather his kids hear about AIDS from their parents than from Big Brother. Not wanting a child's government provided education (in the form of school, television, and other educational services) to address a topic is not the same as hiding from it or pretending it doesn't exist. My parents thought like this (straight, Christian, traditional, etc.). I didn't turn out to be a wierdo, nor did I have to reject the values I'd received in order to avoid that fate. [My parents talked to me about AIDS. They also prevented me from participating in an AIDS class in sixth grade. I was the only one! Shock! I'm scarred for life!]
That "anti-drug" commercial that tells parents to ask kids questions, even if the kids blow smoke about "my privacy," has hit the nail right on the head. The kids whose parents know their friends and know where they are and ARE their friends are the ones who don't hit drugs, don't get drunk, and don't have secret abortions.
So, in summary, I see nothing in what Casey has said to presume he won't talk to his kids or that he is hiding from issues. I also see no reason to force my or the public's view of what his kids need to know into his home.
Re:Blood
pudge on 2002-07-18T21:13:29
More to the point, though, if you haven't talked to your kids about AIDS and other infectious diseases in general (in many parts of the world its the equivalent of living in the early part of the 20th century and not talking to your kids about polio), along with a whole slew of other things I'd bet you're dodging, you're doing your kids a huge disservice.
You have no reason to make any bets about what Casey is or is not dodging. You don't really know. More to the point, it's none of your business; even assuming you do have a valid point here, Casey is the parent and should raise his kids how he thinks they should be raised. It'd be one thing if he were neglecting his kids, but he is not.
But you don't have a valid point regardless. As much as children need to learn about the world, to say a parent is doing a disservice to a *four-year-old* by not teaching them about AIDS is ludicrous. It doesn't make sense on any level. An arbitrary four-year-old child won't be harmed by not knowing about it.
I am not saying they shouldn't be told, but it makes no sense to say they should be told.Re:Blood
wickline on 2002-07-15T12:14:29
> Children may be infected with HIV. Children may bleed. Nuff said.
From another angle,
Some children are infected with HIV.
Some adults treat these kids as old-tyme lepers were treated.
Other children learn only that "Johnny is to be shunned."
(...*unless* they are educated otherwise...)
Everybody looses.
Count me in favor of an HIV-positive puppet if it will help to improve
the lives of those children living with HIV and help reduce prejudice
in children (and even in parents who watch with their kids).
Maybe they should show _Philidelphia_ in high schools too...
http://us.imdb.com/Title?0107818
-matt
The condition AIDS itself is not any less apropriate that any other disease a child might have.
A 4 year old certainly would understand that someone is sick and that being sick requires some special things, and you, as a parent, don't have to go into the pathology and social history of AIDS at that age.
I don't doubt that there are children with HIV in school and I'll bet they could use some friends.
