Sesame Street鈥檚 newest muppet is drawing lots of attention, and it has nothing to do with helping kids learn about reading, counting, or senses.
Instead, this new muppet, named Karli, is touching on a much more serious topic: Addiction.
鈥淲e have 5.7 million children under the age of 11 experiencing a parent who is addicted in their house hold,鈥� said Jeanete Betancourt, a senior Vice President of US Social Impact for Sesame Workshop.
鈥淲hat we have done is created, through our resources that bring about ways to explain parental addition.
In Karli, Betancourt said children will see things through the eyes of a six-year-old muppet whose mother is battling an unspecified addiction in a more generalized way.
鈥淭he way she says it is that it鈥檚 a grown up problem 鈥� it鈥檚 a sickness, and in the sickness it is a grown up who uses alcohol or drugs to continue to make them feel better and can鈥檛 stop, and needs grown up help to get better,鈥� said Betancourt.
鈥淎lso what she does, and the resources do, is provide information on helping children understand that they鈥檙e not alone, that there鈥檚 support for them, that it鈥檚 also not their fault and more importantly that they can talk about this issue and have someone explain it to them that鈥檚 child appropriate.鈥�
You won鈥檛 be seeing Karli on television anytime soon, however.
The televised programming is separate from the online site, designed to help kids that adults in their lives might face, such as divorce, homelessness, community violence, and autism, among many other topics.
It鈥檚 also a resource that can help a child whose friend has a parent going through some of these difficult circumstances.
鈥淚t鈥檚 Elmo鈥檚 dad, explaining to Elmo about Karli鈥檚 mom,鈥� said Betancourt. 鈥淚t鈥檚 such a nice explanation because it鈥檚 general, it鈥檚 not scary, but it does provide the information that we know children are asking.鈥�
