New seasame street character! Whats your oppion on this?

[mamacita4two]

Meet Kami, The First HIV-Positive Sesame Streeter

Posted by: Ami Angelowicz Filed in: news
4:40PM, Tuesday November 17th 2009

Comments (6)

AP

Even though the days are sunny and the air is sweet, things aren’t always perfect on “Sesame Street” … especially in South Africa. There is a new kid on the block there and she’s teaching her neighbors about some of the tough realities of life. Meet Kami (short for the Setswana word “Kamogelo” which means “acceptance”), the 5-year-old, HIV-positive muppet. The cute, yellow girl showed up on “Takalani Sesame” (that’s what it’s called in South Africa) a nervous orphan, afraid that she wouldn’t be accepted because of her disease—but, of course, her neighbors embraced her. And so has the rest of the country. Kami has become a role model in South Africa, providing hope for 28,000 HIV-positive children and 1.4 million orphans and teaching others about the challenges of living with HIV/AIDS. She has even been named a UNICEF ambassador for children. So will Kami be visiting the American “Sesame Street” anytime soon? Not a chance.

Even though Kami has proven to be a friendly neighbor with a powerful message, American parents don’t want her moving on to the street, let alone visiting. Why? They feel Kami isn’t appropriate for children. Ummm … yeah. Why would we be concerned about AIDS education in our country? After all, it’s not a problem here, right? I apologize to Kami on behalf of these narrow-minded parents. Here’s hoping that someday they will learn the meaning of “Kamogelo” and truly welcome all kinds of Muppets on our block. Keep up the good work, Kami! [Feministing]

[.KittyD.]

i wouldnt mind her at all...

[imthatgirl728]

HIV is something that children in South Africa HAVE to deal with. Why not make it a friendly topic. Sounds great to me.

[simplee_me]

I think it's cool. 

There are HIV positive children out there, just another character that was created to relate to a specific demographic and to also make that demographic included in the show (in turn younger generations become more accepting  and understanding of that demographic as well).

[JulyBabies]

I guess I am a narrow minded parent, but my 3 and 4 yr. olds don't need to be learning about HIV from a tv show. I will teach them myself when I feel that they are ready. Believe me, I am not discriminating against the disease itself, I didn't teach them about cancer at that age, so why should HIV be any different?

[MamaKalila]

Exactly

Quoting imthatgirl728:

HIV is something that children in South Africa HAVE to deal with. Why not make it a friendly topic. Sounds great to me.

[SpiritFortress]

I think that teaching our children about real issues such as this is a good idea. I like the character. Those American parents that don't like the character are those who prefer to keep their children in the dark when it comes to reality and that's not healthy. Pretending issues aren't there doesn't make them go away.

[imthatgirl728]

Don;t worry...they won;t be. This is in South Africa...so unless you plan to move your sesame street is safe.

Quoting JulyBabies:

I guess I am a narrow minded parent, but my 3 and 4 yr. olds don't need to be learning about HIV from a tv show. I will teach them myself when I feel that they are ready. Believe me, I am not discriminating against the disease itself, I didn't teach them about cancer at that age, so why should HIV be any different?

[simplee_me]

Are you planning on moving to South Africa sometime soon?  If not.. Don't think you have too much to worry about.

Quoting JulyBabies:

I guess I am a narrow minded parent, but my 3 and 4 yr. olds don't need to be learning about HIV from a tv show. I will teach them myself when I feel that they are ready. Believe me, I am not discriminating against the disease itself, I didn't teach them about cancer at that age, so why should HIV be any different?

[JulyBabies]

Quoting imthatgirl728:

Don;t worry...they won;t be. This is in South Africa...so unless you plan to move your sesame street is safe.

Quoting JulyBabies:

I guess I am a narrow minded parent, but my 3 and 4 yr. olds don't need to be learning about HIV from a tv show. I will teach them myself when I feel that they are ready. Believe me, I am not discriminating against the disease itself, I didn't teach them about cancer at that age, so why should HIV be any different?

Oh no, I know. I was addressing the second paragraph.

[imthatgirl728]

Quoting JulyBabies:

Quoting imthatgirl728:

Don;t worry...they won;t be. This is in South Africa...so unless you plan to move your sesame street is safe.

Quoting JulyBabies:

I guess I am a narrow minded parent, but my 3 and 4 yr. olds don't need to be learning about HIV from a tv show. I will teach them myself when I feel that they are ready. Believe me, I am not discriminating against the disease itself, I didn't teach them about cancer at that age, so why should HIV be any different?

Oh no, I know. I was addressing the second paragraph.

eh...don;t worry about it. People write these things to get people all crazy about something that was never even proposed to happen. Its garbage.