Youth and Education

• Happy Birthday Sesame Street
• Go for a Gaia Degree
• Students Up in Arms
  
   

Happy Birthday Sesame Street
by Sarah Wilkinson

Last year, the children’s television show, Sesame Street, celebrated its 35th Anniversary. Run by the not-for-profit organisation, Sesame Workshop, it has maintained its ‘gold standard’ for excellence in educational media since the 60s, broadcasting its culturally adapted shows across 120 countries. Honoured with more Emmy Awards than any other programme in television history, Sesame Street has been at the heart of three generations of children.

Using a diverse cast of ‘Muppets’, the show teaches its audience critical early education skills while also pro-moting healthy, emotional and physical social development. It adapts all its characters sensitively, to fit with the religious and cultural expectations of each country. In Takalani Sesame, the South African adaption, a young and vibrant, HIV-Positive Muppet, conveys messages designed to reduce the fear and stigma of the condition, and in the Arabic-Hebrew production, Israeli and Palestinian children can learn about cross cultural respect and religious co-existence. “In our country, which has been torn by violence, Sesame Street could possibly be the last one of its kind to portray people as human beings,” says an Israeli father.

The non-profit Sesame Workshop relies on income from the sale of its Sesame products as well as public and private funding partnerships to finance its projects. In response to alarming trends in childhood obesity, it has recently launched an initiative to help preschoolers develop more ‘Healthy Habits for Life’. This includes public information announcements, books, magazines, educational outreach kits, interactive museum exhibits, videos, DVDs and a new section on the Sesame website.

For many children, ‘media’ is the window through which they can view the world; it not only reflects the norm but also defines and shapes it. Sesame Street strives to help every child, what ever their race, faith, gender or size, reach their highest potential. It does this by defying stereotypes, focussing on ‘what is possible’, encouraging all children to learn, think independently, encourage change and reach out for a better world.

“Through education we can make measurable differences ... now and for generations to come,” says Gary Knell, Sesame’s President. “And despite all the changes over the last four decades, our vision, values and focus on helping children learn have remained constant. One child at a time, millions of children the world over.”

Contact: www.sesameworkshop.org 
Photo: Kolkar, a Sesame Street resident
First printed in Positive News Issue 47

Go for a Gaia Degree
by Liora Adler

‘Are you ready to put your passion, vision and dreams to work in an active, productive way to meet both your own goals and the needs of the Earth?’ Gaia University has recently announced the launch of its first degree courses for 2006: MSc degrees in Integrative Eco Social Design with an opportunity to specialise in Permaculture, Ecovillage Design, Life Transitions, Appropriate Technology and Social Communication; Open Topic MSc degrees, which allow specialisation in any chosen field of EcoSocial Regeneration.

With the imminent translation of the Gaia University website to Spanish, Portuguese and German, we can also expect other courses in Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Brazil quite soon. The first Regional Centre will begin by offering BSc degrees in Ecological Design as of Spring 2006 and details can be found on the website.

Practical and action-learning projects are combined with workshops to help students make use of the courses’ loose structures – enough structure to support risk-taking but not so much as to stifle creativity. Using integrated, known and, as yet, unknown, ecological and social strategies, students will learn how to successfully meet the needs of all life forms in the context of designing for an evolving, post-oil, human culture.

Contact: www.gaiauniversity.org

Students Up in Arms
by Martha Hammond

Last October, a groundbreaking study by CAAT, the Campaign Against Arms Trade, revealed that at least 67 of the UK’s universities invested in the arms trade. Of the 152 institutions that were part of the study – which looked at shares held in the UK’s top six arms companies – 45 per cent were arms trade investors.

Following the publication of their report, CAAT launched their Clean Investment Campaign, urging students to take firm action and petition their universities to invest ethically instead. The campaign had remarkable early success: The School of Oriental and African Studies sold their arms shares within a week, citing both the report and student pressure as the reason for its decision. Since CAAT published its findings, student campaigning against arms investment has risen, with at least 28 UK universities placing pressure on their finance departments to change their investment policies.

CAAT’s Universities’ Co-ordinator, Jo Wittams, said: “While universities are ostensibly open and public institutions, staff and students are rarely kept in-formed about the investments made on their behalf, using their money!
“We hope these figures will help university members get their institutions to divest from the arms trade.”

There are lots of ways to get involved in the Clean Investment’s Campaign. CAAT are looking for university staff and students to help co-ordinate action in their area.

If you want to know how your university invests its money, or would like to get involved with the Clean Investment’s Campaign,

Website: www.caat.org.uk
First printed in Positive News Issue 47

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