The Sesame Street episode, "Little Children Big Challenges: incarceration" is issued by several state's Department of Corrections, such as Florida, to children ages 2 through 16 (WHAT 16 YEAR OLD WILL TAKE AN ELMO EPISODE SERIOUSLY?!) whose parents are incarcerated and serving long prison sentences. There is one pamphlet with notes to the child's caregiver about how to assist the child in connecting with the child's parent, and it is very deceptive. The guide for caregivers encourages caregivers to make the child feel secure by giving them unrealistic overly optimistic ideas that they will be able to see his or her incarcerated parent frequently. According to prisonfellowship.org, nearly 25% of children with mothers in prison do not know that their mother is in prison and only 42% have been granted a personal visit since their mother's admission.
The Sesame Street episode is even more discouraging than the guide... it is depressing for an adult to see and a child is definitely given false hope that their mom will send them letters and pictures to color every day.
Go here to see a 30 second clip http://youtu.be/sid9A0mGrMk?t=1m20s
PLEASE sign this petition to ban the distribution of this DVD with the Sesame Street episode by Department of Corrections!!
INSTEAD MOTHERS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO CHOOSE TO RECORD THEIR OWN VOICE READING PERSONALIZED AND AGE APPROPRIATE STORY BOOKS AND BEDTIME STORIES TO THEIR CHILDREN.
The state of Alabama, in conjunction with the Aid to Inmate Mothers (AIM) non-for-profit program has started a state-wide program where mothers can record themselves reading storybooks and send the recordings to their children. THESE PROGRAMS ARE HIGHLY BENEFICIAL AND SHOULD BE SUPPORTED BY EVERY STATE'S D.O.C.
Read more about Alabama's program here:
http://www.inmatemoms.org/programs-storybook-project.aspx
Picture from care2.com. (cc)
