New episode reveals why Karli is living with a foster family.
Yesterday, I watched a segment about Sesame Street which aired on the Today Show. Earlier this year, Sesame Street introduced a new character, Karli, who just moved in with a foster family. Now the network is revealing why Karli is living with another family; her mother is battling an opioid addiction.
Is Sesame Street Breaking The Mold?
I’ve been around children’s entertainment enough to know that there is a ton of programming for helping children learn their numbers, the alphabet, sharing, empathy, forgiveness and accountability. But Sesame Street has tackled death, combat, incarceration, homosexuality, autism, religion, homelessness, trauma, foster care, and now, addiction.
I do not have children of my own, so I am wondering if the show enjoys the same popularity of earlier generations. There is no shortage of children’s programming online, but do other program dive as deep as Sesame Street? Are parents missing this valuable resource because of all the other noise in this space?
Where Is The Episode On The Dangers Of Smoking?
Some issues with sensitive material only appear online or in books because issues relevant for some children may be overload for others. After hearing about the episode on addiction that was in the news this week, I was also curious to learn if and how Sesame Street tackled tobacco use, nicotine addiction, secondhand smoke and/or cancer.
I didn’t get very far in my search for an episode or resources about tobacco use or nicotine addiction. That was surprising given the up rise in electronic cigarettes and vaping use by younger and younger kids. It can only be a matter of time before something airs addressing teen vaping. I am picturing a younger muppet finding something strange in the bedroom of an older muppet sibling.
I did learn that episodes of Monsterpiece Theater (a recurring sketch which parodies Masterpiece Theater) stopped featuring the Cookie Monster smoking a pipe (and then eating it) over concerns about smoking. Earlier episodes were re-taped without the pipe. Additionally, secondhand smoke was identified as an asthma trigger in the A is for Asthma online toolkit. Beyond that, I came up short locating an episode related to smoking, quitting smoking or the dangers of smoking. The topic of tobacco use must be hiding somewhere in an episode over the last 50 years, but I cannot find it.
More About Sesame Street
There are a couple of interesting things I came across in my failed pursuit. First, you can visit the official website of Sesame Street. No young parent today would be surprised at the volume or sophistication of online learning, but I was! In fact, I was so engaged that I had to force myself after an hour to get back to work.
I was also surprised to find a massive library of resources for parents, caregivers and providers. For example, click here for a guide on how to talk to your child about addiction to compliment that digital resources by encouraging parent/child interaction.
Not only did I really enjoy my stroll down memory lane, but I was very impressed with the resources being pumped out of Sesame Street. You can bet this would be a first stop for me if I were a parent struggling to educate my child on a particular topic.
Finally, and you will REALLY like this if you are a Smokey Robinson fan like I am. Smokey Robinson, I have learned, was featured on Sesame Street several times. Click here, to watch an old video where Smokey serenades the letter U in a unique version of “You(U) Really Got A Hold On Me.”
