Refman, I'm sure going to miss your posts...maybe one day if you are really, really good, Batman will lift the moratorium.
yeah...shame on me for not thinking that Sesame Street is an appropriate forum in this country for the topic of deadly viruses. I guess I'm just a bad guy. I'm personally looking forward to the new Barney character who has suffered genetic defects by being born to a mother who survived a nearby nuclear blast. And then I understand ebola will be visiting Mr. Roger's Neighborhood real soon... just because something is a concern doesn't mean it's appropriate for all audiences. particularly when that audience is anywhere from 2-4 years old. I agree wholeheartedly that it is quite a different thing on another continent where this virus is so much a part of the daily lives of so many lives...but that's a far cry from the situation here in the United States.
I am apathetic about this puppet thing... I just wanted to add that PBS has obviously faced some budget - money - problems. The reason for this is that they are more and more no longer truly "public broadcasting." Just because all their commercials (Lexus, etc) go in the beginning of a show does not mean that there are no commercials. These sections have been getting longer and longer as more money has been needed.
No kidding, Manny. I'm glad you're on board with this...I don't understand why anyone would want to push this issue to my 3 1/2 year old...she is trying to learn the ABC's, 123's, the animals, etc. and these topics are challenging and complex enough!...I am all for "understanding", "acceptance", "love-for-all", etc. towards this deadly virus, but SS is not the forum! It simply does not make sense!
I the question about the HIV puppet is far more implications that just education a child on HIV. 1. HOW DID THE PUPPET GET THE D*MN DISEASE? How will Sesame street explain that HIV is transmitted by sex or bodily fluid exchange? Should Sesame Street be talking about sex to a bunch of 3~7 yr olds? I personally do not think so. 2. Is the puppet gay? Based on outdate f*ck up stereotypes but some *ss will bring up this point. How will Sesame Street explain that one does not have to be gay to get the disease WITHOUT explaining what it means to be gay? Or should they explain what it means to be gay to a bunch of 3~7 yr olds? It is easy to say it is a waste of time. . . but this little move Is about more than a disease . . it is about sexuality and about when children should be taught about sex . . and it's consequences. Rocket River
1.The children in South Africa, where the puppet will be shown, have had AIDS since birth. Their mothers passed the disease on to them while they were in the womb. They were born with AIDS, just as a child might be born with spina bifida or cerebral palsey. 2. The puppet is representative of a child. Young children are not sexually oriented, therefore the puppet would not be gay. Again, since these children are born with AIDS, it is in no way reflective of their potential sexual orientation.
I guess it is time for Natasha to turn into a Crack baby, or maybe Telly can start dealing with his heroin addiction. Come on get real...this is NOT appropriate for children aged 2-4, especially on a government sponsored station and show. Parents should be the ones telling their kids about this problem...when THEY think it is the right time. I actually think Congress is doing the right thing by quashing it now...why wait for it to be a problem.....nip it in the bud. DaDakota
I just wanted to add this little tidbit.... It was probably when I was 4 or 5 when I first started to wonder how in the hell I came about on this earth. It was explained to me, but obviously was not understood that well. I feel that I have average to above-average intelligence. If I didn't even know about how I was born and struggled with the concept of birth then how was I (putting myself in the shoes of a 2 to 4 year old here) to understand something like the HIV virus which can lead to death?? Forget death, I can't even comprehend birth! That is why I think this would be such a bad idea. When you are a little kid, you should not have to worry about things that will come into your life later. There are times when I still wish that I had the lifestyle of a little kid.....no job, no responsibilities, and most importantly, no worries-only about trivial stuff like if it is going to rain or not outside. I know that some people have been saying "Well, SS has been down this road before with Mr Hooper's death." To me that is a completely different situation. Everyone knows how much little kids like to ask questions. I can see it now: "Mommy, how did Fluffo's mom get the HIV virus?" Mother responds, "From unprotected sex, dear." Kid then asks, "What is unprotected sex?" Hardly something a 2 to 4 year old needs to know about. So, if this does go through and goes to the US, I guess SS is ready to explain about unprotected sex, sharing needles/drugs, gonorrhea, sodomy, the clap, etc. and all that other fun stuff that 2 to 4 year olds need to know about and are dying to learn! I hope and pray that this does not come to the States. Maybe this is ethnocentric and xenophobic on my part, but I could care less about what kids in Africa are learning...I care about what they are learning in this country & this stuff is not appropriate for their age group. If we are going to say it is, then we might as well as expose them to masturbation, drug abuse, murders, p*rnography, the abortion debate, etc. There is a time, place ,and age for everything. Period.
The fact is that the leading cause of HIV is engaging in risky behavior. This whole it can happen to anybody thing is technically true, but an attempt by the left to legitimize risky lifestyles. This is a disease where the transmission is often due to poor personal choices. When I have kids I'm going to have a hard enough time explaining gay parades, etc. I really wish they wouldn't add SS to the list.
I never said kids should be taught about sex. I asked how people would react to a puppet with cancer. If you have a problem with a puppet with cancer, okay. You should also have a problem with a puppet with HIV. Like Mrs. JB said, kids in Africa are born with it. Some kids in America are too. The issue here is whether or not it's appropriate to teach kids that age about dying. I would agree it's probably not. But that's not Congress' problem here. Their problem is the same as Refman's. They don't want to 'legitimize' risky behavior. Fact is, some of them want to punish it. It wasn't that long ago that the far right called AIDS a punishment from God. Refman: My first post to you was in response to your snotty post about how maybe PBS shouldn't get ANY money followed by your wishy washy retreat. Your post here, where you say you'll have problems explaing gay pride parades to your kids at least expresses an opinion. So yes, do weigh in when you have an opinion to express. And don't when you don't. And BTW, I believe you when you say you'll have a hard time explaining these things to your kids. And I feel for them. My earlier posts were reactionary and extreme, buy hey, I'm Batman Jones. My problem was with the outcry against HIV, not against teaching kids about dying, which I agree is very difficult at whatever age the question arises. To Manny and the rest: To be clear, I don't suggest we should teach kids about dying or where babies come from when they're two to four years old. But kids are growing up faster than we did. I'm in favor of sex ed in schools, in case you couldn't have guessed that. When I was growing up, I think an appropriate age for it would have been around 12. These days kids are engaging in oral sex, etc, as early as age 8 or 9. The world's changing and, like it or not, we have to change with it if we care enough about our children to protect them.
Batman ., . .that is a copp out. I say this because CORRECT things change but i beleive we can direct HOW IT CHANGES the reactionary attitude is IMO what leads to the wrong direction I think kids having sex oral or otherwise at 8 should be stifled if it means a Wack on the ass then so be it. . . IT needs to be said that THIS IS INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR . . ABSOLUTELY!!! We too wishy washy . . .trying to make the child understand and coddle them and blah blah blah . . . a soft sale . .. we need to just let them know 1. IT AIN'T ACCEPTABLE IN ALL . . THEN worry about them understanding You don't explain electricity to a 2 year old you wack their hand REAL HARD and tell them don't EVER stick a pin in a socket. . . . Then at age 6~7 you might explain it. Rocket River
I think the 'anti-HIV puppet' crowd is grasping for rational reasons to oppose it, while harboring other, silent reservations. Why? Because I do not believe the details are out on what SS will 'do' with this new puppet. What if it's just 'puppet B has HIV, but she's just like us'. If we don't know how they will present this character to the children, how can you oppose it? What's the problem with teaching acceptance, and ingraining it at an early age? SS has always addressed acceptance with it's milti-ethnic and multi-cultural approach.
I respectfully disagree. See my last post before this one. It all boils down to this for me. By their very nature, little kids are very curious and inquisitive. It won't take long for them to ask the question of how did the puppet get HIV which will lead to how did the puppet's mother/father (can't believe I'm typing that) get HIV which will then lead to what is sharing needles or what is having unprotected sex?? I guess I'm old-fashioned, but I just don't see any benefits out of exposing young kids to something like that. As I said earlier, I had a tough time understanding birth, why throw something that complicated at them?? What happened to just learning the letters of the alphabet, numbers, and how to tie your shoes??
Even with a Cancer Puppet. . .kids would ask questions The difference is where those questions will lead. Unless the puppet has Scrotum Cancer Rocket River
So are you admitting that the gay aspect is what's troubling you? If AIDS was primarily a hetero disease in the US, like it is in many other countries, would you still have such a big problem with this?
