Sesame Workshop Launches Program To Help Children Of Military Cope With Deployment Stress

Sesame Workshop, always awesome, always good for your kids, has launched a new program designed to help the children of servicemen and women currently deployed overseas (read: Iraq) cope not only with the absence of a parent, but also with the return of them which can easily be just as traumatic as seeing them go. They have a website dedicated to the Talk, Listen, Connect program right here, which lays out the various resources they currently have available to families who find themselves in this situation. It also provides download links for more information on how to sign up for the program, get ahold of the DVDs they've prepared for the children, etc.

“We had some of our advisors there [for the filming], and they were just so happy that something like this was actually being done for the military families. They were just so excited and really appreciative, looking at the Sesame Street Muppets actually taking on these messages that were so important to the military families.”

And the response to the final product has been overwhelmingly positive, says Lynn Chwatsky, Senior Project Director for Sesame's Military Family Initiative.

"The feedback all along the way has been overwhelming positive. From Senior level military officials, to hospital personnel, to our project advisors, to members of Congress, and to most importantly, the young families to whom these materials are targeted - these materials are making a powerful impact."

Betancourt knows that the work being done now for Talk, Listen, Connect may be used by military families for many years.

“We’re ensuring that these resources get into as many hands as possible …This is filling a deep need with young children, but in the end what we’re discovering is it’s filling a need for all military families, regardless of the age of their children. It’s really helping younger and older children together,” she says.