The Sesame Workshop estimates that roughly 5.7 million children under 11-years-old in the United States live with a parent that has a substance abuse disorder.
Launched in 2013, Sesame Street in Communities is a branch of Sesame Workshop’s outreach efforts.
The online platform contains resources for children, parents, and child-development professionals.
A new character named Karli was introduced in May 2019 to build awareness of the opioid epidemic as well as focusing on topics like Parental Addiction.
Sesame Street is tackling the stigma by creating awareness on how to recognize substance misuse and how to get help as well as how children and families can cope with the challenges of the opioid epidemic.
“When a family member struggles with addiction, the whole family struggles.”
According to Sesame Street in Communities, “Children often think it’s their fault; they feel shame, embarrassment, guilt, and loneliness; they may feel invisible. It takes special effort to start important conversations and answer children’s questions.”
With these resources parents, teachers and caregivers can help guide children to cope with the challenges of addiction.
