Fear of revealing one's status: HIV and AIDS are still not accepted as one of the significant realities of students' lives. The literature is mainly concerned with the impact of the HIV/AIDS status of adults on their children.
Objectives and Significance of the Study
In turn, the study sought to find out how other people understand HIV, as well as what role they play in the lives of those infected by the HIV virus. Find out who supports and cares for them and their experience of such support and care.
Focus of the Study
2002) shows that the vast majority of young people in this age group living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa are women. In conducting this research it became clear that South African teenagers in particular are not considered a priority in the campaign against HIV/AIDS.
Structure of the Dissertation
Literature Review
Risks Confronting Teenage Learners and Related Impact of HIV
8 This is contrary to the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, to which South Africa is also a signatory. Parents and teachers should be encouraged to adhere to these principles, regardless of the child's health status.
Educators, Parents & Caregivers' Obligations and Support
This (referring to teenage deaths) makes the future of teachers uncertain and even makes them reluctant to continue their studies to obtain higher academic degrees. All forms of behavior that students may undertake independently of teachers' intentions and commands have the potential to be problematic.
Stigma and Discrimination: Impact of HIV on Teenagers
Burnard (1992) states that friends and families react and react in different ways to the knowledge that one of them has AIDS. During a visit to the 2004 Class of Gender and Health at the University of KwaZulu-Natal field trip to the Sinikithemba Clinic on 16 September 2004 at the Durban McCord Hospital, we learned that nurses have problems with HIV/AIDS issues. It is crucial to make recommendations that the law and ethics of care are enforced as HIV/AIDS affects the most vulnerable - including young children and teenagers.
According to Burnard (1992: 7) friends and families react and react in different ways to the knowledge that one of them is HIV positive or has AIDS. Children are particularly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS because they cannot tell men to practice safe sex (Rotmann, 2005). O'connor (1991) agrees with these authors but extends his argument to look at the impact that poverty in the context of HIV/AIDS has on young people.
Gender Inequality Implications
In a context where HIV/AIDS is as prevalent as in Intshanga, parents struggle to raise their children well. It is in these contexts that Wilkinson says that children raised by parents who face the added stress of caring for children infected or affected by HIV are more likely to have challenges of emotional and behavioral problems. In accordance with this impression; Aggleton et al. 1991) and Sims and Moss (1991) state that women and girls are more likely to assume caregiving roles within the domestic context and to engage in caregiving roles in the face of HIV/AIDS.
The work of Taylor and Field (2003) confirms that women and girls are more likely to be the sole 'carers', spending many hours caring and receiving less outside assistance with their care. In such situations, fathers are more likely than mothers to give up and not support teenagers (ibid.). Girls see setbacks and difficulties as more threatening than boys and are more likely to expect the worst in stressful situations (McRobbie, 2000 and Annandale, 2000).
Theoretical Framework
Grounded Theory
It is obvious that they face challenges and, as minors, live in the company of other people, often adults, who play the role of guardian - ie. my task was to connect the stories told by both the students and other people in their lives to the whole. students' life experiences and strategies in dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In the context of the Intshang study, this element was understood as the need for me as the researcher to understand the various details provided by the research participants and categorize them into parts of shared experiences; e.g.
In the Intshanga study, data was analyzed to understand how these aspects affect both boys and girls affected by HIV. In the context of this study, there is a need to highlight gender imbalances in the way that some key feminist activists and scholars point out below. The fight against gender inequality has a long history - dating back to early feminist struggles carried by figures such as Betty Friedan of the first wave whose point of contention was the suffragette cause and the exclusion of women from the vote to Mary Wollstonecraft's (2nd wave) main charge for women's exclusion from the public, political, social and economic domains and relegation to the private sphere and agitation for their sexual freedoms, to contemporary discourses in the 21st century that include ecofeminism and land democracy, as articulated by people like Vandana Shiva (3 . wave).
Research Methodology
Ethical Considerations 12
It is essential for all social research to comply with ethical issues, in order to respect moral guidelines related to research conducted under the auspices of my university. The Oxford English Dictionary describes ethics as the moral principles by which a person is guided or rules of behavior recognized in society. They will be given pseudonyms and the information will remain confidential and will be used for academic purposes only. Verbal and written consent to conduct the interviews was received from the schools, clinic, hospice, individuals and parents.
By conducting the interviews and analyzing the data, I became aware of the arguments, advice and ideologies advanced by some of the literature I present in chapter two. As a researcher and mother and teacher of teenagers, I feel the pain that my respondents felt and believe that my study can contribute to helping these vulnerable children. Given the fact that I strongly identified the data that I collected with the respondents, the analysis and presentation of it may reflect a more emotional tone.
Key Respondents 13
Origin: Zimbabwe Studied at Intshang as an HIV positive teenager. Occupation: Patient of Intshanga Hospice. Originally from: Bhobhonono, studied at Intshangi as an HIV positive teenager. Occupation: Patient of Intshanga Hospice.
Limitations of the Study
Lack of time in the work environment also made it difficult to ask respondents for information other than their initial answers. In the case of the hospice, the caregivers/staff feared that they would lose their jobs if they provided information that could jeopardize the reputation of the hospice. In the case of community members, it is still difficult to talk freely about HIV/AIDS issues.
Explaining such a condition in The History of Sexuality Foucault (1991) argues that because sex has been kept secret, there has been a struggle against this secrecy towards greater freedom of expression. In the case of teenagers, when they told me their experiences, they became emotional and burst into tears. As I had limited training in counseling, I counseled the participants and also referred them to individuals with advanced counseling skills.
Data Presentation and Analysis
The Respondents
Although this chapter presents much of the collected data, some of the findings in the previous chapter are highlighted. In this section I will describe the interviews conducted, the findings and the recommendations made by some of the respondents.
HIV Testing
The mental dilemma that D.D.K has gone through reflects that she has not accepted the fact that she is HIV positive and blames herself. He did not tell me about his status and I only found out that I am HIV positive after I got sick in January 2004 and went to the clinic. Schools should also not discriminate against teenagers who are pregnant or HIV positive (Lee, 2001) as was found to be the case with the experiences of some students.
According to the Constitution of South Africa (1996), every child has the right to learn and it is illegal to exclude a student because he is HIV positive. Young HIV-positive mothers end up suffering because they do not get help or support from their parents and partners. Despite the enormous social and psychological effects of being an HIV-positive student, it's worth noting that it's not all doom and gloom in Intshanga.
Treatment and Care
I blame the government for most teenage deaths, especially in rural areas where it is not easy for patients to get treatment. I have Ingoduso (bride-to-be) and I started paying lIobo/a (bride price) when I was still employed and now I cannot continue because I have no income. I don't blame anyone for my condition, but I don't want my father to know about it.
This comment resulted in much debate as to whether it is worth telling the 'bare truth' given the stigma and fear most people experience. He said it is still difficult for most people to accept and understand that AIDS is killing young people. They aired this in isiZulu, saying they don't feel sorry for him and thought he deserved what he got.
Some Coping Strategies
Sister Nkosana also refers to the way they deal with teenage patients, especially young male patients. She says it brings a lot of stress for her to run around the two centers even though they are in the same area and in turn endangers 'the care given to those who need it most' - she referred to HIV positive teenage patients and their volatile emotional character. This is too much compared to the compensation we get at the end of the month.
The fact that they are young and HIV positive weighs on them, but it is comforting that they are connected to one HIV positive student who is talking to his peers about safe sex. She tells me that she feels that hanging out with other HIV positive people reminds her that she is not alone in this medical condition. Most of the girls who come to the clinic are not so open to talking about their private lives.
Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
The study found that HIV/AIDS is considered a shameful disease, which most people do not want to admit or talk about. The Intshanga schools study revealed the sad fact that stigma and discrimination contribute to the spread of HIV/AIDS and continue. 34; A Commentary on the Institution of the Colloquium on Gender Equality in Schools: Working in an HIV/AIDS Environment".
Keeping the education system healthy: managing the impact of HIV/AIDS on education in South Africa. Power, Culture and the African Woman' in Agenda, No. Mind and Body in Zulu Medicine. UN report prepared by the United Nations Secretary-General's Task Force on Women, Girls and HIV/AIDS in Southern Africa, 2005.
To whom it may concern
Letter of Permission to conduct Interview
