According to Pew Reasearch Center’s Economic Mobility Project, 1 in 28 children have a parent who is incarcerated. With statistics like these, Sesame Street has created an online initiative titled “Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration.” This initiative comes in the form of an online tool kit aimed to help young children whom are facing such problems find support and comfort, in addition to providing families with strategies and tips to talk to their children about incarceration.
Alex is Sesame Street’s newest inhabitant dawned in a hoodie and wild blue hair has a father whom is incarcerated. Creators of the iniative state that having a muppet deal with these issues is equivalent to another child telling other children his story.
“I just miss him so much,”
“I usually don’t want people to know about my Dad.”
Sesame Street is not new to controversy and attention as it has tackled topics such as death and divorce. A columnist at www.reason.com simply stated: “Congratulations, America, on making it almost normal to have a parent in prison or jail,”
Children who face such challenges certainly need a support system, but should such a national and public programming expose such troubles to the other 27 out of 28 children? How will normalizing such a situation effect society?
Voice Your Opinion!
-Aaron
