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Entertainment Education Programs
A Dialogue with Young People through Radio: "The Youth Variety Show"
Episodes of the "Youth Variety Show" addressed the issues of being an adolescent including health, emotional development, physical changes, pregnancy, STDs, and drug and substance abuse. Specific topics covered included promotion of good health, decision-making, career goals and objectives, boy-girl relationships, communication with parents and peers, teenage pregnancy, STDs including HIV/AIDS, early marriage, and female circumcision.
Questions from listeners included:
Research and Evaluation A mid-term household omnibus survey was conducted in December 1995 and a follow-up in August 1996. A market research survey was also used. This survey is conducted four times a year nationwide and includes both urban and rural respondents. Of those surveyed, 56% of young people and 41% of adults listened to the program in 1996. In both categories there were more male than female listeners. Among those who listened, 34% said they heard only one program, 38% heard two, 17% heard three, and 12% heard four or more. Thirty-six percent of the youth who listened, and 34% of the adults, said they recommended the programs to others. The high production quality of the "Youth Variety Show" attracted the support of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) which is currently providing $900,000 to fund phase two of the project. |
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The
"Youth Variety Show", a weekly radio show, was a
key component of The Kenya Youth Initiatives Project, a project
of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs,
Population Communication Services project. The project was
a collaborative effort with the Family Planning Association
of Kenya, the National Council for Population and Development,
the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, and over 20 youth serving
organizations in Kenya. It included advocacy activities and
print materials, as well as the radio programs.
Some
statistics about youth in Kenya provide background to the
project. Kenya has 6 million young people between the ages
of 15 and 24. Among 15 to 19 year olds, 40% of females and
60% of males are sexually active. Among unmarried, sexually
active men, 82% have multiple partners. Every year in Kenya
11,000 pregnant girls drop out of school and do not return.
The
program aired weekly in English on Saturdays from 10:30 a.m.
to 11:30 a.m. and was broadcast nationally. It was upbeat,
interactive, entertaining, and nonjudgemental. It also promoted
the services of local youth centers. The program format included
music, a youth panel, expert guests, phone call-ins and letters
from listeners, weekly health tips and health statistics.
It became the most popular program broadcast by the Kenya
Broadcasting Corporation and received corporate support from
Johnson and Johnson. Because it was a call-in show for youth,
young people had a voice in determining the content of the
program. The program sponsored a minivan called "Teen
Bus" which drove around the country, interviewing adolescents,
so that their views could also be heard.
© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. All rights reserved.