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A scene
from Sahar El-Layali, Sleepless Nights, Directed
by Hani Khalifa, 2002. The utmost dream of
a commercial production is to be a film qonbela
- a bombshell; in other words, “a must
see” both in terms of entertainment
quality and being seen as “inoffensive”. |
Introduction
Soul Buddyz is a real-life television drama specifically
developed for 8 to 12-year olds and their parents
and teachers, and has consistently had the highest
audience ratings in its category in South Africa.
It delivers the positive message that
all, irrespective of age, should and can talk about
issues. One of the issues it focuses upon is children’s
sexuality. It also breaks the stereotype that children
are incapable of making informed choices while reinforcing
the message that kids can be active citizens in society.
The Vehicle
The Soul Buddyz vehicle consists of five main parts:
Television (drama and Buddyz on the Move); Soul Buddyz
Clubs; Radio broadcasts; Lifeskills booklet for grade
7 and a Parenting booklet
The Soul Buddyz project was launched in 1999, building
on the successful multimedia strategy of the Soul
City series. While the Soul City series is popular
with all ages, its messages were not designed specifically
for a very young audience, particularly 8 to 12 -year-olds.
Soul Buddyz has been developed specifically with this
age group in mind because attitudes are often formed
during this critical time and yet, in the context
of a rapidly transforming society, the needs and aspirations
of children between these ages are often neglected.
Addressing Children’s Sexuality
Emotional and health problems often originate or become
embedded in this age group, with social problems such
as physical and sexual abuse severely retarding the
potential of many children.
According to Aadielah Maker, senior manager, Soul
Buddyz, “We focus on showing children the choices
they have around sex. They can abstain, delay, they
don’t have to give into feelings, they can decide
to have sex within marriage or they can choose to
use condoms.
We had a specific story around a girl who was thought
to be pregnant. The characters researched the myths
around pregnancy and then there was a six minute animated
sex education piece, which explored how the body works.
The video also spoke about choices. We don’t
want to dictate, but rather to provide children with
information so that they can make healthy choices
and seek out information.”
Sexuality - More Than Sex
In exploring sexuality in the series it is presented
as more than just sex – it incorporates values,
how you feel about yourself and others, relationships,
and even issues such as substance abuse, and the choices
that can be made to illustrate the issues of peer
pressure. The vehicles explore how young people can
positively support each other through what they want
in their lives and what they value.
Parents are encouraged to talk about sexuality in
the home. In the first series, we encouraged parents
to speak to their children about menstruation and
wet dreams.
All Soul Buddyz series are tested and researched
for effectiveness. After the first series, it was
proven with both boys and girls that it is not necessary
to have sex with one’s boyfriend or girlfriend
to show love. Children exposed to the series felt
very much more strongly about this than those that
were not.
Gender and HIV/AIDS
Maker explains, “We have also explored the issues
around gender in addressing HIV/AIDS. For instance
in the second series, there was a story about how
boys and girls accepted they could both play soccer.
We also dealt with equal rights for girls and boys
– that girls can do same things and they don’t
only have become mothers, teachers and nurses. They
do also become engineers and pilots!”
In the most recent series the focus was on getting
boys to identify and then express their emotions.
They were shown how to express anger in ways other
than through violence. In one episode of Buddyz on
the Move, a young boy had cried in front of his peers
who laugh at him. Later he goes back to them to find
out why. This is very brave and empowering for people
of any age!
Maker continues, “We don’t deal with
HIV as a once-off issue because it is not in isolation
to other children’s issues. It is part of every
series. There was a big shift in the first series
when we discovered that children who had no exposure
to Soul Buddyz were very unlikely to be willing to
be friends with someone who has HIV/AIDS. Those that
had watched Soul Buddyz were dramatically more likely
to be friendly with children who were infected.
Sexual Abuse
“In terms of sexual abuse we encourage children
to tell someone until someone believes them and we
also tell them that if they have been abused, that
they weren’t responsible and it isn’t
their fault. We encourage them to find someone to
listen so that they can get care and support”,
Maker says. The third series also highlighted that
children with disabilities have same sexual feelings
as any other child.
The Clubs
The Soul Buddyz Clubs and print components reinforce
the messages about positively supporting each other
and have activities around clarifying a child’s
personal values – so TV highlights an issue
and the print reinforces, provides information and
activities so that the children can work individually
or in a group to determine their response to an issue.
After the success of the first series of Soul Buddyz,
children across the country wanted to form their own
real life clubs. Soul Buddyz Clubs are fun and safe
places where young people can get together to learn,
enjoy and contribute to their communities. Based in
schools and libraries across South Africa, they aim
to be a platform where all South African children
can acquire additional knowledge and skills related
to health issues.
Buddyz on the Move
This year, running in parallel with the Soul Buddyz
television episodes is a new television magazine programme
called Buddyz on the Move (BoM). Buddyz on the Move
is the first actuality programme developed specifically
for children. In this programme, real life Buddyz
Clubs and children that are making a difference in
their communities are filmed undertaking activities,
from their perspective, around the themes of Soul
Buddyz.
For further information please contact Onyx Marketing
Communications T +27 11 728 5004 C +27 83 273 9891
michelle@onyxmarketing.co.za
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