Can you tell her how to get, how to get to Sesame Street……. ?
Miss Piggy was the wealthy Muppet on the iconic Street when most Western economies where thriving. Draped with pearls and glamorous outfits, Miss Piggy’s character portrayed the upper class of the muppet world. But with tough times ahead for America, and indeed the rest of the world, facing recession, the producers of Sesame Street have introduced Lily, the ‘Hungry Muppet’.
The new character was introduced last weekend. Lily is pink and sports some very trendy pigtails a bit like the ones I used to have when I was a kid.
Her family has been hit hard by the current recession and she is left hungry on a regular basis.
Lily debuted on a special episode of Sesame Street called Growing Hope Against Hunger.
This is not the first time the show has added a character to help educate young people about an important topic. In 2002 the South African version of Sesame Street welcomed Kami a muppet who was HIV positive.
It is estimated that there are over 17 million American children who are ”food insecure”, with over 9.6 million of them under the age of six. Ireland is currently in the same position with a large number of Irish children also living in poverty.
While showing Elmo around the food bank, a modern-day soup kitchen, Lily explains to him that it is unknown where her next meal is coming from and at times it can be difficult.
Elmo replies ” I didn’t know there were so many people who didn’t have the food they needed”.
It is hoped that the character of Lily can help young people around the world to empathise with their less well off friends.
What do you think about Lily’s introduction; do you think children’s TV should take more responsibility in educating young people about real world problems?
Image from CTVNews
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