Disney’s “Shout Out” to Donation

My six-year-old daughter LOVES all of the Disney shows aimed at tweens. One of them is “Shake It Up,” about two girls who dance on a kids’ TV show. Normally, I would make up a million excuses to avoid sitting through one of these shows, but a few days ago, I didn’t.

I’m actually glad I didn’t. The gist of the story line was that the mom of one of the girls starts to date the gym teacher. When the teacher arrives at the house, her son asks for his identification. While looking at the teacher’s license, the boy comments, “You’re not an organ donor, how very selfish of you.” The teacher responds that he will register as a donor tomorrow and the boy asks, “What if I need a kidney now?” The teacher says he could have one of his.

I was pleasantly surprised at that little “shout out” for the importance of organ and tissue donation and even happier that no myths were perpetuated, as often happens in hollywood.

I’d like to thank the writers at Disney for including donation in this show. If that mention of donation affects one other parent or helps a child see how important donors are, it made a difference.

- Kacy Walker, hospital relations