“Sesame Street,” one of the longest-running children’s TV shows in the United States, has introduced a new character that has a mom that’s addicted to opiates. The new character is a green muppet with yellow hair that is friends with Elmo. Karli will talk about how addiction has affected her and her family in new editions of the show’s online community resource initiatives.
The show’s creators wanted to cover this topic on the show as there are millions of children who are now facing this reality, and there are no resources out there for those children.
In an interview with Stat News, Dr. Jeanette Betancourt, the senior vice president for the U.S. social impact at Sesame Workshop, predicted that there were 5.7 million kids under the age of 11 that live in a house with a parent that struggles with addiction.
Betancourt said that the shows featuring Karli approach the issue of addiction with compassion, from a perspective young people can understand. The episodes show that addiction is an “adult illness,” and emphasizes that kids aren’t in any way responsible for their parent’s actions.
Kama Einhorn, a senior content manager with Sesame Workshop, said that these shows could be as beneficial for parents as they are for kids.
The creation of the dialogues and scene was assisted by Jerry Moe, the national director of the Hazelden Betty Ford Children’s Program. According to Moe, children often do not receive the emotional help and support they need when a family member is dealing with addiction.
Kids live in the same world and the same homes where the rest of us do, and they’re smart enough to know what is happening right in front of them. Some people believe that these types of issues should be swept under the rug and hidden from children, but for the millions of kids that are facing those problems in their families, ignoring it is not an option.
“Sesame Street,” is well known for covering sensitive topics that kids are often sheltered from. In the past, this show has tackled issues such as homelessness, HIV, or having parents in jail.
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