Sixty seconds on . . . Sesame Street and opioids
BMJ 2019; 367 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l5987 (Published 11 October 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;367:l5987
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The letter “O” for opioid and the number 5.7 million. Shockingly, that’s the estimated number of US children under the age of 11 who live in households with a parent with a substance use disorder.
But where do Muppets come in?
America’s opioid crisis has inspired the iconic US kids’ TV show Sesame Street to introduce a new character whose mother is battling addiction. A series of videos, activities, and articles take us through the backstory of Karli, a “bright green, yellow haired” friend of Elmo’s who appears alongside a young girl whose parents are addicts in recovery.
Is this really the right topic for children’s TV?
Sesame Street has always been educational and has never been shy of tackling big health and social matters like autism, death, homelessness, and foster care. With an estimated 10.3 million US residents misusing opioid prescriptions last year, it has now decided the time is right to explore addiction.
Is this aimed at children or adults?
Both. Production company Sesame Workshop says it wants to help parents, healthcare providers, and teachers talk to children about addiction by providing a viewpoint from young people that is rarely heard. “We are presenting the child’s true perspective. At the same time, we are doing it in terms of how grownups can help,” Jeanette Betancourt, senior vice president for US social impact at Sesame Workshop, told health news website STAT.1
Have clinicians been involved?
The children’s therapist Jerry Moe, national director of the Hazelden Betty Ford Children’s Program, which supports children with family members who have addictions, helped craft the segments. He said: “These boys and girls are the first to get hurt and, unfortunately, the last to get help. For them to see Karli and learn that it’s not their fault and this stuff is hard to talk about and it’s OK to have these feelings, that’s important. And that there’s hope.”