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Deadly serious game - YOUR MOVES
Melanie Peters. Saturday Star, 24 January 2004. Republished courtesy of Independent Newspapers (Pty) Ltd
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Thousands of young people fresh out of school are about to enter a whole new world of campus life, with lots of partying and a lethal cocktail of sex, drugs, booze - and HIV. The danger is that even if students know the dangers of contracting HIV through unprotected sex, consuming alcohol or drugs could reduce their inhibitions and cloud their judgement.
As part of their orientation this year, university, technikon and college students throughout South Africa will be able to take part in an interactive computer game called YOUR MOVES - to be a player, or a life-stayer. It was launched this week (20-23 January 2004) by the Higher Education AIDS (HEAIDS) initiative's programme to curb HIV infection among students and staff in higher education.
About 7000 copies of the game, that poses some of the complex life choices young people face, will be distributed at all South African universities and technikons during orientation in the next few weeks. Development of the CD-ROM involved input from experts and students in tertiary institutions. Using actors and situations students face, the game encourages the user to make a choice which in turn displays a screen showing the likely consequences of such a choice. At the end, a risk assessment is given, based on the choice the student or staff member has made.
The project has been backed by the South African University Vice-Chancellors' Association and the Committee of Technikon Principals. Barbara Michel, programme director of the Higher Education HIV/AIDS Programme, said the challenging and controversial CD-ROM would be part of South Africa's comprehensive higher education strategy on HIV/AIDS. She said it would also be part of psychology training and technology skills development as well as be available in libraries and clinics for individual student use.
Michel said life was about choices, self-respect and behaving with consideration toward others. But because these simple choices weren't always made, the highest infection rates for HIV in southern Africa were among young people. SHe said statistics showed that a girl aged 15 to 24 was 2,5 times more likely to be infected than a male youth. The highest rates of infection were among girls aged 13 to 19, followed by boys aged 16 to 25. "There is already a solution for HIV. It's called behaviour change. Without behaviour change we risk AIDS mutation through resistance to drugs and unprotected sex. Without behaviour change, we may render a future vaccine ineffective," she said.
HEAIDS works to prevent and manage HIV infection and to promote care, support, learning and research, in tertiary instutions. Students and staff from tertiary institutions, SAUVCA, the CTP and the Departnent of Education created HEAIDS in 2001 to help build high-quality HIV and AIDS policies that protect the rights of staff and students, and to promote an environment for more effective service delivery and implementation. |
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