Sesame Street has never been known to shy away from difficult topics, and now is no exception. As America suffers from an ongoing opioid epidemic, the children’s series is willing to once more showcase its unparalleled ability to make kids understand what’s going on—showing them they’re not alone in the process.
A socially responsible show
The episode will air when the show returns for its 50th season as part of the Sesame Street in Communities project, which features special content for kids who face family difficulties, such as having parents with opioid addiction.
“How they’re impacted by addiction is often something that we don’t hear about or, more importantly, don’t hear [in] a children’s voice or perspective,” Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president for U.S. social impact at Sesame Workshop, told NBC News.
So, what happens in the episode?
Karli, a character that was added earlier this year to represent children in foster care, explains how she ended up there. As it turns out, her mother is addicted to opioids, which Karli expresses by saying that she “was away for a while because she had a grown-up problem,” and that, in order to get better, her mother attends group meetings.
Karli adds that she attends group meetings herself, meant specifically for children whose parents are dealing with addiction. All this is portrayed in a friendly and accessible manner for children to understand—but that doesn’t take away from the seriousness of the issue.
During the episode, Karli is joined by children who are dealing precisely with this situation in real life.
Some of these kids explain their own circumstances for other children to understand and relate, framing everything in a child’s perspective—a much needed approach for all the children out there who’ve so far been mostly unable to fit in any mainstream family model depicted in their favorite shows.
This gives them a real possibility to better process their own situation not only by understanding it better, but by knowing they’re not alone.
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