Sesame Street: The Talk, Listen, Connect Video Series

[beaker]

..but I wonder if they'll explain WHY Elmo and Rosa's dads got sent to fight in the first place? Or how many people they had to kill?

The same Republicans who tried to get rid of Sesame Street and PBS( http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/20070221_bush_wants_to_gut_pbs_funding/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060902283.html
) lied to get America into country after country...which has resulted in over 4500 US soldier deaths, tens of thousands of wounded American soldiers, and countless thousands of dead and maimed innocent Muslims civilians.

NO SURPRISE, the US army uses the Sesame Street theme as part of torture sessions at Guantanamo Bay, Abu Gharib, etc
http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2008/03/torture-playlist.html
(I wonder if Sesame Workshop approves of this?)

Now we get this
http://www.muppetnewsflash.com/2008/04/sesame-street-resource-videos-to-help.html
http://www.sesameworkshop.org/tlc/

Sesame Workshop is planning to launch the second phase of the "Talk, Listen, Connect" program later this month. The program, including an all-new resource video, is designed to help military families deal with serious issues that affect the children of injured military veterans.

The second phase, entitled "Deployments, Homecomings, Changes", will help families who are now dealing with multiple deployments and parents returning with serious injuries.

More than a million children have parents who are in the military and have been deployed in the last six years; in 2006 Sesame Workshop produced a special video designed to help military families cope with the strains of deployment. Today more than 18,000 military personnel in Iraq or Afghanistan have been wounded or seriously injured; Sesame Workshop plans to give support to families that now have to deal with the reality and serious effects of these situations.

In the new video production, Muppet monster Rosita struggles to cope when her father, Ricardo, returns home in a wheelchair. The video will feature Rosita and her parents; along with Elmo and his "military dad", Louie Monster.

Sesame Workshop will begin to distribute the free video and resource pack to military starting on April 29, 2008. Sesame Workshop also plans to make the new video and resources available, for free, via the internet.

For more information on the "Talk, Listen, Connect" series, and to view the first set of resource videos ("Talk, Listen, Connect" and "When Parents are Deployed"), be sure to visit the initiative's official website. I'll keep you updated as more information on this, and other Sesame Street projects, surface.

This makes me sick

Military families cope with the strains of deployment. Today more than 18,000 military personnel in Iraq or Afghanistan have been wounded or seriously injured; Sesame Workshop plans to give support to families that now have to deal with the reality and serious effects of these situations.

Our brave men and women should never have been sent there to begin with...and I know for a fact its WAY higher than 18,000. And no telling how many civilians have been maimed, wounded, or psychologically damaged.

Jim Henson would be AGAINST this awful war, as his anti war nature was clear in skits like "Hey, look, whats that sound?" and others.

The US government, which is vehemently anti gay(another reason Muppet fans should not be happy with Washington) and VERY outside the Muppet spirit are now trying to normalize war. Trying to make it seem like killing is part of the Judeo-Christian ethic America is allegedly based on.

Rush Limbaugh gets upset that the next Muppet movie will be about exposing the immoral
corrupt government linked oil companies, yet he would be more than willing to support cutting off PBS funding and using Sesame Street as propaganda.

 

[GelflingWaldo]

You may not agree with the cause, but you can't ignore the effects.

It doesn't matter if these deployments, injuries and immeasurable strains that these military families are experiencing are justified/unjust, right/wrong, good/bad, etc. The fact of the matter is these things are happening. They are affecting a lot of families. It would be irresponsible (in my opinion) for Sesame Workshop to turn their back on the children and families affected by war and military deployment simply because they don't agree with the political/ethical cause of circumstances. Sesame Workshop isn't endorsing war with these videos, they are trying to help those affected by the reality of it.

Jim Henson once said:
“At some point in my life I decided, rightly or wrongly, that there are many situations in this life that I can't do much about: acts of terrorism, feelings of nationalistic prejudice, cold war, etc. So what I should do is concentrate on the situations that my energy can affect”

Sesame Street isn't able to stop the war tomorrow, Sesame Workshop can't un-deploy a child's parent, they can't heal the thousands of parents that come home injured, and they certainly can’t turn back time and reverse all the things that have happened already. But what they can do is help those affected cope with these horrendous situations. They can help a child cope with his mommy or daddy is deployed for months. They can help a family deal with change and anxiety when a parent comes home injured. And they can help a family open up and talk about the situations affecting the family, learn to listen to one another, and connect.

Sesame Workshop isn't endorsing the war. They aren't saying that the government is right/wrong. They aren't even saying the word "war" or "military" these videos. Sesame Workshop can't stop the effects of the war from happening, but they can help those that are affected by it. I think that’s the responsible thing to do. I think this is what Jim would have done. And I'm sure the thousands of children that are unwittingly affected by the war appreciate that Sesame Street is there to help them, and their families, cope with the situation and learn to talk, listen and connect.

Sesame Street isn't taking a pro-war side here. They aren't taking the republican side or the democrat side. They are taking the child's side and trying to help children deal with inevitable and traumatizing affects of deployments, injuries, changes. I commend them for their efforts.

 

[beaker]

Having seen The World According To Sesame Street, I just find it ironic that Sesame Workshop would go out of there way to go to war torn areas...risking life and limb to go to areas where kids know nothing but the horror of war, hate, etc. They try to go into Middle Eastern conflict areas, to bring peace.

Yet Sesame Workshop is feeling compelled to make a special because...

Over half a million children under the age of five are waiting for their active duty, Guard or Reserve, mother or father to come home - the most since World War II.

and then

Today more than 18,000 military personnel in Iraq or Afghanistan have been wounded or seriously injured; Sesame Workshop plans to give support to families that now have to deal with the reality and serious effects of these situations.

Am I the only one who sees the irony? Both the Democrats and Republicans voted for these wars, and I find all of Washington DC to be crooks on the left and right. Maybe they threatened to yank all the PBS funding or something?

I'm just thinking you know...what about all the Iraqi and Afghani men women and children who are rotting in the ground or going around with missing limbs and disfigured faces?

Maybe to be fair, Sesame Workshop should make a special about them? Explain why the US government helped install Saddam, and the Taliban extremists in the first place? Why the US government murdered 3500 Afghani villagers in the first few weeks of "Operation Enduring Freedom"?

The people at SW NY need to grow a pair in my view. I really think some Pentagon people have gotten to the Cooney legacy over there. I mean the US government is using the Sesame Street themesong in horrific torture violence to detainees at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib...I dare say Jim Henson, and Joe Rascapo wouldnt approve.

Kids should be taught that this war is wrong, and our government is just as evil as the governments its trying to tear down based upon their foreign policy. If things continue to go the way it is, the elite in Washington DC will pull out all the PBS funding, and SW won't have a leg to stand on.

 

[GelflingWaldo]

I just find it ironic that Sesame Workshop would go out of there way to go to war torn areas...risking life and limb to go to areas where kids know nothing but the horror of war, hate, etc. They try to go into Middle Eastern conflict areas, to bring peace.

Yet Sesame Workshop is feeling compelled to make a special because...

Over half a million children under the age of five are waiting for their active duty, Guard or Reserve, mother or father to come home - the most since World War II.

and then

Today more than 18,000 military personnel in Iraq or Afghanistan have been wounded or seriously injured; Sesame Workshop plans to give support to families that now have to deal with the reality and serious effects of these situations.

Am I the only one who sees the irony?

I don't see anything ironic there. Sesame Workshop has always been dedicated to reaching out to educate and help children in all situations, in all parts of the world with their educational and emotional development. Their productions in the Middle East help address the needs of the children in the Middle East, their productions in South Africa a tailored to the needs and issues facing children in South Africa, and their productions for US military families address the issues facing those children.

But these specials aren't about war or military service -- they are about dealing with a mommy or daddy who is sent away for a long period of time and dealing with a mommy or daddy who suddenly comes home injured or disabled. They are not about dealing with what mommy or daddy does or why mommy and daddy are doing what they do.

Kids should be taught that this war is wrong

I agree. I think the producers of Sesame Street would agree. These videos aren't saying "war is right". They are't saying anything about "war". They are about dealing with the horrible, and real, effects of them. Sesame Workshop can't stop wars overnight, and it would be irresponcible for them to ignore the their very important emotional needs of a child with a parent in the military simply because they don't approve of war.

 

[The Count]

Hello... It seems to me that there are plenty of thoughts, both good and bad floating here in this thread. While conjectures and speculations appear to have framed what on the outset would resemble a healthy conversation, I fear that the talk is merely going around in circles. The problem when something like that happens is that feelings and comments get rehashed to the point that a potential war of words and wills erupts between the main protagonists. So before this gets any worse before getting better, the thread, she is-a closed.

Thanks for posting, sorry for the inconvenience.