3-2-1 Contact Extra: I Have AIDS, A Teenager’s Story

Most programs about AIDS are aimed at adults. This show focuses on children and their need to understand AIDS, what can cause it and what cannot, and how they can understand those who have the disease. As more and more children contract AIDS, the need for them to know about the disease increases in importance. By using the celebrated case of Ryan White, a 16-year-old hemophiliac who was victimized by a contaminated transfusion, children learn from someone more their own age who knows how to speak to them. His talks with a fifth-grade class and his experiences in trying to attend school bring the problems into sharp focus for young people. Only a move to a new school where he was accepted allowed Ryan to live some semblance of a normal life. Producers Al Hyslop, and Susan Schwartz-Lynn have captured an important story and made use of television’s power to change fear and prejudice into tolerance and understanding. A Peabody to Children’s Television Workshop for 3-2-1 CONTACT Extra: I Have AIDS, A Teenager’s Story.