Benny2.0's Comments
I love this! Kudos to Sesame Street.
I was doing a read-aloud with some second graders last year (Frindle) and one kid asked why we never see the main character's brother even though we know he has one. I asked the kids if any of them have brothers or sisters that are sometimes away from home for a while. One little girl raised her hand. And I asked her about it (expecting the sibling to be in college or living with another parents). She told me "He's in jail." A bit shocked, I offered my condolences. She responded, "It's OK. He did something bad and got in trouble for it. Now he knows not to do bad things anymore."
Kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and this is something that a lot of kids can relate to (no matter the age).
I was doing a read-aloud with some second graders last year (Frindle) and one kid asked why we never see the main character's brother even though we know he has one. I asked the kids if any of them have brothers or sisters that are sometimes away from home for a while. One little girl raised her hand. And I asked her about it (expecting the sibling to be in college or living with another parents). She told me "He's in jail." A bit shocked, I offered my condolences. She responded, "It's OK. He did something bad and got in trouble for it. Now he knows not to do bad things anymore."
Kids are a lot smarter than we give them credit for and this is something that a lot of kids can relate to (no matter the age).
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Even if a kid ONLY goes to preschool or daycare, they could encounter 10-30 other kids a day. Many children with incarcerated parents get ostracized by other children because somehow it's THAT child's fault their parent is in jail, or THAT child must be "bad," as well. I've seen it happen.
This will teach OTHER children about sympathy/empathy/understanding for their classmates or friends who have parents in jail.