AIDS education outside of school

AIDS education outside of school

Although offering AIDS education at school is a principal method of reaching large numbers of young people, there are 75 million children around the world who are either unable to go to school or choose not to.¹⁵ In order to ensure that all young people are reached with basic AIDS education, programmes that target young people outside of school are essential. Young people who are in school also benefit from receiving further information about HIV and AIDS from other sources, adding to and reinforcing what they learn in school.

Families, friends, the wider community, mass media and popular culture all influence young people, and it is important that they convey accurate educational information about HIV and AIDS.

The media

Using the media is a powerful way of reaching large numbers of young people with HIV and AIDS information and prevention messages.

Many countries have tried some form of AIDS education advertisements, films, or announcements. LoveLife is a prominent campaign in South Africa, which uses a variety of media to educate young people about HIV and AIDS. The loveLife campaign has produced eye-catching posters and billboards and used TV soap operas and rap and kwaito music that are popular with young people as an educational platform.¹⁶ One particularly popular drama aimed at educating youth was the three part TV drama 'Shuga', first broadcast in Kenya and Zambia in November 2009. The soap opera followed the lives of a group of young friends and was accompanied by radio and internet campaigns as well as a drive to increase testing and counselling services. As it discussed topics like multiple sexual partnerships and unprotected sex as part of an engaging storyline the show was not only hugely popular (60 percent of all young people surveyed in the Kenyan capital city Nairobi said they had seen it), but initial surveys also showed that it may have had an impact on those who watched it (90 percent said it had informed them on issues of stigma, HIV testing and relationships)