I love Sesame Street. I still know the songs that I learned while watching it many years ago. Sesame Street teaches children much more than letters and Spanish though. After all, life isn’t always a “Ladybug Picnic”. Sesame Street has always engaged in difficult discussions, engaging children in their classic age appropriate ways. Soon, Sesame Workshop will tackle the tough topic of the death of a parent.
The show, which will air during primetime so that families can view together, is a part of the Talk, Listen, Connect project. It was originally launched to support the special needs of military families. Katie Couric will host “When Families Grieve” when it airs on April 14 at 8:00 EST (on PBS of course) The show will feature families who have lost loved ones as well as Elmo and his family discussing the death of a beloved uncle. The program will help foster communication and provide coping ideas and strategies. There will also be supporting materials available after the program through the Sesame Street website: www.sesamestreet.org/grief.
If you head to that website now, you can preview some of the show’s content. Clips are also available on www.youtube.com. The scenes are poignant as they handle a variety of the challenges that surround explaining death to a child, including the permanency of the loss.
Sesame Street Workshop also handles a serious health diagnosis in “Here For You”. The content surrounds a critically ill child but many of the emotions and learnings may also be appropriate for other families facing ill loved ones. The DVD was distributed to hospitals and pediatric care centers so you may want to check with your local facilities, child life specialists or medical social workers for more info. You can also visit the Sesame Workshop webpage at www.sesameworkshop.org/.