Giving teens a realistic view of HIV

Two family-friendly cable stations, Nickelodeon and Noggin, mark World AIDS Day today with thoughtful specials aimed at older children and teenagers. Both serve as reminders of the human toll that the still-growing, global epidemic continues to take -- a toll that remains weighted by discrimination, fear and ignorance.

Linda Ellerbee traveled to South Africa for tonight’s outstanding “Nick News” special, “The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS,” airing at 9 p.m. on Nickelodeon.

After a Cape Town pediatrician offers simple HIV and AIDS facts, Ellerbee visits Cape Town townships, Johannesburg and other cities where even her professional briskness seems shaken as she talks to children affected by a disease made worse by food shortages, polluted water, government inaction and the stigma that can lead to mistreatment and cruel isolation.

At a home for orphaned and discarded children, many with AIDS and HIV who receive only vitamins as treatment, one young girl expresses gratitude to be where she is not treated badly but adds, “They don’t hug me.”

A 15-year-old girl who, until her death after Ellerbee’s visit, was one of the country’s oldest people to survive being born with the virus, had been able to receive AIDS drug treatment for only nine months. Peers avoided her.

A boy is desperate not to lose his AIDS-stricken mother. He does the cooking, cleaning and farming and is unable to go to school. Even though he’s HIV-negative, his friends shun him.

Ellerbee, however, never leaves viewers with a feeling of hopelessness. Her message, illustrated by a foster family’s loving care for an HIV-infected baby and by a haven where infected children and their mothers can be together, is that education and caring make a difference and that help is possible where the will exists.

“Living With AIDS,” tonight’s episode of “A Walk in Your Shoes,” the earnest educational reality series on Noggin’s “N” network for teens, airs at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m. It introduces Trevor and Tyler, who are 18 and involved with sports, girlfriends and college plans. Tyler is HIV positive; Trevor isn’t.

As the show begins, the two meet for the first time, and there’s little doubt that Trevor’s misconceptions about people with HIV and AIDS are about to be shattered. This worthy series, whose sincerity rings true, was created to help viewers get past stereotypes and gain understanding of others.

By the time the boys have raised money for an AIDS bike ride in another state, traveled there together, hung out and biked their miles, they’re relating as peers. Trevor’s empathy grows too as he talks with other men, women and teens, straight and gay, in various stages of the disease on the trip.

At the end of the show, viewers are directed to its Internet site for information and resources.

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‘The Courage to Live: Kids, South Africa and AIDS’

What: A special installment of “Nick News”

Where: Nickelodeon

When: 9 tonight

Host: Linda Ellerbee

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‘Living With AIDS’

Where: Noggin/”N”

When: 6:30 tonight, repeating at 8:30

What: A special edition of the “A Walk in Your Shoes” series