A-B-C-D-H-I-V...

wow. sesame street is introducing an HIV-positive character into its south african programming where one in nine have the virus. As a new Dad, I do not know how I feel about this. The program is aimed at 3 to 7 years olds. They say there will be "no explicit mentions of sex" as a result of this character, but doesn't it push the issue?

This creates several questions for me: what age should I cover the birds and the bees with my daughter (need to research this. I do not plan on being an ostrich and ignoring it like my folks did)? has sesame street had a character on before with any disease? if not, they should probably have one that has cancer. by this I mean I like that Sesame Street is trying to address this, but in explaining the disease I have to wonder how they'll ignore the concept of how you get the disease. but then again, how in the hell do you get cancer?!

I remember when one of the human characters passed away - the store owner guy - they used it as an opportunity to cover the topic of death with their viewers. this makes sense to me. being realistic and covering disease makes sense to me as well. but are they being realistic if they broach the topic of HIV, how you can interact with people that have it and completely ignore the sex topic?

I am not sure about this one Children's Television Workshop is really blazing a new trail, eh? no word on whether or not this character will appear on US-based Sesame Street. but talks are underway.