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THE POWER
OF EDUCATIONAL TV IN A SOCIETY STRUGGLING WITH LITERACY
by Mina Sharifi
Children are loved and looked at differently than adults almost everywhere around the world . They share some beautiful common traits that remind adults of better times . They explore ideas with so much imagination and see endless possibility in the world . They ’ re nurtured and loved . This period of time is called childhood . But , in Afghanistan , childhood exists for a very short window of time , and that ’ s for girls or boys who are lucky enough to experience it at all . Children in Afghanistan grow up quickly and deal with trauma I still can barely even imagine . They are really like mini adults , just steps away from decision-making time and adulthood .
With over 70 percent of the Afghan population under the age of 25 , there is a lot weighing on the shoulders of the children . Often they live in poverty . They begin working before they are even teenagers . Frequently , they are on the streets earning minimal money shining shoes or working hard in labor-intensive jobs that stunt their growth .
Those girls and boys who have the means to go to school are lucky . But they too have a lot of emotional challenges in a country like Afghanistan . Are they going to be one of the inspirational stories ? One of the children who get accepted to great schools , and who become pillars of their communities ? Or are they going to eventually give in to the temptation of anger , hurt , and frustration like so many before them ?
As a country , Afghanistan , in small but effective increments , is making changes to steer children in the right direction . I am lucky enough to be a part of that movement .
I first arrived in Kabul in 2005 . Though I had grown up outside of the country , in Canada , and was surprised by a lot of things I found in Afghanistan , I was not caught off guard by how children were approached . I grew up knowing from my parents that Afghan kids were lectured to in school , not participating members of open conversations like I was used to . My teachers had affectionately referred to me as a chatterbox , and praised my questions . This didn ’ t make sense to anyone who had grown up in Kabul . Instead , they were praised for being quiet , listening carefully , and not saying much . I was shocked to hear kids were
ranked in class and that everyone knew each other ’ s ranking . To me , it sounded like they weren ’ t children and were just mini adults in training .
I didn ’ t work with children right away when I arrived in Afghanistan . Rather , it happened organically as I realized not only did I find children the least stressful group to support , but I also had the potential to make a different kind of impact with them — preventative , immediate , and positive . Over the span of a decade , working with children took over as my greatest passion .
In the beginning , I was working with a private media company and , as we created our ads and messaging , we realized there was a major gap in the target audience groups . We were writing public-service announcements cautioning people about improvised explosive devices , which are a huge problem in Afghanistan . Many people , of all ages , encounter them unexpectedly and are injured or killed . Yet , the ads we were making addressed only adults . Maybe others were creating children ’ s content , but we decided to push for it as well . We created an animated ad that showed children reporting anything suspicious to their elders . It was a huge hit with the government ministries we
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