"Sesame Street" Continues To Tackle Serious Issues That Affect Kids In America Everyday

“Sesame Street” is not shy when it comes to addressing certain social issues that affect many children. The show is very inclusive and does an excellent job at making sure diversity is represented in their episodes. One of their newest characters, who was introduced this year, is a great example of how “Sesame Street” tackles certain topics.

Karli, Sesame Street’s newest muppet, is a young girl who lives with her foster parents while her mom fights addiction. Karli is a lime-green muppet who is 6 ½ years old. It was revealed in May that Karli lived in foster care with her “for-now parents”. Meet Karli in the video below.

Isn’t Karli just the cutest? “Sesame Street” did such a great job at explaining to kids about foster care. They also did a good job at addressing Karli’s feelings of not having a place and being alone. Though this episode is deep and a little tougher to watch, I think it’s important to air so kids that deal with the same feelings know they are not alone.

Karli’s mom deals with an addiction problem. Karli tells Elmo in an episode that her mommy goes to meetings everyday to talk to other people with the same issues. This helps Karli’s mom feel better and helps her stay healthy.

Again, “Sesame Street” does an amazing job at talking to children about “grown up” issues. These episodes aren’t only good for children who have similar stories, but they are also good for those who don’t, so they can learn how to be empathetic and kind to those who do.

Karli also has a human friend named Salia. Salia shares a similar story. You can meet Salia in the video below.

Introducing a human character also puts the issue into better perspective. Not only can kids relate to Karli but they can see a real person who is also just like them.

“Sesame Street” goes into greater detail about addiction an in episode with Elmo and his dad.

The episode addresses addiction in a way that children can understand what is going on in Karli’s home. They also do it in a way that humanizes the issue rather than bashing those who deal with addiction and are trying to get better. They explain it as a struggle that needs professional assistance in order to get healthy again. I think “Sesame Street” made a great decision to tackle this issue because, like they said on their Instagram, though this is seen as an “adult issue”, it “impacts children in ways that often aren’t visible.”

This is not the first time “Sesame Street” has tackled topics like these or included characters with diverse backgrounds. The show has talked about racism, families with incarcerated parents, adoption, and more. In 2017, they introduced Julia, who is a muppet with autism.

I am all for “Sesame Street”'a inclusivity and representation of almost everyone. I think this is a great way to educate the youth on different kinds of people and families.