Sesame Street: When Parents Are Deployed

[Schmidty]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/entertainment/4426832.html

I think this a great idea for the military families affected by deployment, but I'm wondering if I (or others) should burden my 4 year-old daughter (5 on Friday) with a subject such as war.

What do you all think?

[KevinNU7]

They are airing it at 10pm so you do not need to worrya bout your 5 year old watching it

[Schmidty]

They are airing it at 10pm so you do not need to worrya bout your 5 year old watching it

Out here, it comes on at 7 p.m., but that's not the point. One of the quotes in the article was:

Makers of When Parents Are Deployed are worried that people with no personal connection to anyone in the war will shrug and change the channel if they come across the special, when in many ways it's just as important that they see it..

It just seemed odd that they suggested having every family watch it. I wanted to see if anyone could think of a good reason.

[Klinglerware]

Well, judging from the article, the focus of the show isn't really on the horror and violence of war (they say that they don't even touch on the issue of the parent potentially dying). The focus seems to be on the separation of soldier and child/family.

I would figure that they suggest that non-military families view the program to see how military families cope in the absence of the loved-one abroad.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It just seemed odd that they suggested having every family watch it. I wanted to see if anyone could think of a good reason.

Without seeing the program or knowing much at all about it's content, I'm just WAG'ing here but:

Maybe it covers how kids who are going through the situation could be helped by other kids; i.e via understanding their situation better, not teasing them about the absence of a parent, understanding if they are emotionally affected by the absence, etc.

Just a wild guess, it seems like a Sesame Street'ish thing to cover alongside the main topic.

[Toddzilla]

If there is a platform or a show that deserves the benefit of the doubt based on an impeccable track record, it is Sesame Street. Have they ever made the wrong decision, or lapsed in judgment, or otherwise compromised their integrity with children and families?

If Sesame Street says this is important for all families to see, I take them at their word.

[Raiders Army]

700,000 kids is a pretty small percentage of kids in the United States. I would say that most kids have no clue what it's like to miss your parent for a month, much less a year. It might be helpful for your kids to watch it so they understand what other kids go through.

I had to have a talk with my daughter about a year ago when she was making fun of a kid in her class. I told her she shouldn't do it and then she replied that he was always acting up. I told her that her father was deployed and he might never see his father again. She cried because she was reminded of when I was deployed in 2003.

I use this as an example because my kids went through it almost four years ago, yet they still forgot what it was like. For kids who haven't been touched it would probably be some good awareness for them.

[KevinNU7]

So what did everyone think?