'Sesame Street' tackles prison in new online resource

Molly Vorwerck | USA TODAY

From the ABCs to do-re-mi, Sesame Street has covered it all. Now Big Bird, Elmo and the gang are addressing a new topic: prison.

Sesame Street's new Little Children, Big Challenges program is a series of online tool kits for children and their parents dealing with adversity. Issues include not just prison, but also bullying, divorce and relocation.

The tool kit contains videos, activities and handouts offering advice, encouragement and games for when they visit Mom or Dad in jail.

In one video, Alex, a Muppet whose father is in prison, is faced with a wave of questions from his puppet peers about the meaning of "carceration." Sofia, a neighbor, explains that "incarceration is when a parent breaks a grown-up rule — a law — and has to go to jail."

Alex's story will not be part of the regular Sesame Street TV show.

Jeanette Betancourt, vice president for outreach and educational practices at Sesame Workshop, says the video is meant to give children like Alex support and comfort.

"We are looking not at the cause of the incarceration of the parent, but at the impact of the incarceration on the lives of children and their caregivers," she says.

Betancourt says the program has gotten positive responses since its release earlier this month at a White House event.

"We're tackling this very difficult topic, but also acknowledging this very invisible community," she says. "We've heard quite a bit from adults who experienced this as children and who never talked about it out of guilt or shame."

One in 28 American children have at least one parent in prison, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Patrick Fagan, director of the Marriage and Religion Research Institute, a family-focused research organization, says the program is a good idea and says it should also tackle out-of-wedlock parenthood, because married people with children are less likely to be incarcerated than unwed parents.

Melissa Henson, communications director of the Parents Television Council, which promotes family-friendly entertainment, says the Sesame Workshop's decision to shed light on a delicate issue will provide valuable support for marginalized children.

"According to some statistics, there are more kids who have parents in jail than who have a parent serving abroad," Henson says. "There is no reason to penalize the child who had no part in that wrongdoing. Rather than make them feel stigmatized or isolated, it's better to give them those beneficial resources."

The tool kit:

http://www.sesamestreet.org/parents/topicsandactivities/toolkits/incarceration