Doing Childhoods in the Context of HIV and AIDS: Young Children in Early Schooling Speak

Abstract

This study investigated children's experiences and understandings of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Grade 3 children (n=31) from the province of KwaZulu-Natal aged between 8–11 years were participants in the study. Data were collected through a four-stage focus group process including activities such as diagrammatic mapping, drawing, timelines, projective techniques and ranking exercises. The findings suggest that the meanings children make about HIV and AIDS are contextual and situational. Moreover, the contexts in which children live act as power sites where struggles over meaning and meaning making occur.