Abstract

An aspect of traditional African approach to education is characterised by the belief that age is wisdom. In the designing of HIV/AIDS awareness programmes, an assumption is made that young people have deficits in knowledge, attitudes, and skills on HIV and sexuality which can only be remedied by adults. The paper examines young peoples’ perception of the programmes in the light of contemporary youths’ sub-cultures. A qualitative research approach is used in the study in which focus group discussions, personal interviews, document analyses and participant observations are used for data collection. Findings reveal that televised HIV/AIDS educational messages are occasionally detached from the experiences and world views of the youths. On the other hand, it was evident that youths benefited more from HIV/AIDS concepts conveyed via commercial television soaps. Located in the Social Constructivist paradigm and supported by the Feminist Stand theory, the study expands the scope and knowledge on HIV/AIDS education and communication. One of the lessons learnt is that young people can have insights and perspectives that can improve on mediated HIV programmes and can  challenge dominant media discourses on causes and spread of HIV/AIDS.

Key Words; Televised HIV/AIDS Education, Perception, subcultures,

                      Symbolic-Interactionism

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 4, No. 2, October 2012, 15 – 29.

© Delmas Communications Ltd

About the author

[1]Dr. Frederick Kakembo is a lecturer  and Associate Dean for the School of Research and Graduate studies at the Uganda Christian University, Uganda. He has also been a Dean of students and lecturer at Ndejje University, Uganda.

Full Article

Words: 8,000; Pages: 17