In true Sesame Street fashion, they are not shying away from tackling real issues for children. In an article entitled “Yellow-haired Muppet Karli helps ‘Sesame Street’ tackle addiction,” by Kristen Dahlgren and Jay Blackman and featured on NBC news, we meet Karli, a muppet who has to enter foster care because her mother suffered from addiction. Karli joins many other muppets in bringing issues that affect children to the forefront, including Julia, a muppet on the Autism spectrum and Lily, a muppet who lives in poverty.
All too often, the issues that we face as a society we shelter from our children. And yet, it affects children. As much as we like to think that the “resiliency” of children will be their saving grace, we have also witnessed a significant rise in the number of young adults suffering from anxiety and depression – resilient, yes, but it often comes with a price tag.
Bringing a face to the experience will help children feel validated and understood. Perhaps meeting Karli will allow a child to feel less alone, and perhaps less likely to carry the shame that will come with such an experience. Children not experiencing a similar situation can begin to learn that not everyone has the same life and we need to be open to accepting everyone’s experience. Good job, Sesame Street!
To read the full article: https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/tv/yellow-haired-muppet-karli-helps-sesame-street-tackle-opioid-addiction-n1064436
Photo credit: http://Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Like this post? Consider subscribing!
brilliant. thx for bringing this to my/our attention. my kids are gone so no sesame street here. maybe i’ll start watching it again. mmm no