Sesame Street: Helping Traumatized Children Cope
When you get big feelings, take deep belly breaths.
Setup
When Big Bird has “big feelings,” he imagines himself in a comfy-cozy nest, soothed by the smell of baking cookies. The Count teaches the Cookie Monster a breathing technique to ease agitation while the green monster Rosita punches a pillow to release her anger. These Muppet characters are part of a Sesame Street in Communities project that provides free online resources, including books, videos, and digital activities, to help children deal with trauma. The problem is significant: almost half of all American children have experienced abuse, domestic violence, poverty, a natural disaster, the mental illness of a caregiver, or another adverse event. Thanks to the Muppets for teaching them resilience! (This session is made possible by support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.)
Explore More
Society
In a time of heightened distrust, how can media outlets reclaim the public’s confidence? We hear from a longtime journalist.
The idea of unity is a compassionate, hopeful aspiration for a country ravaged by a global pandemic, racial injustice, economic downturn and mob violence.
This week marks one year since the first known COVID-19 death. And while the remarkable pace of vaccine development is widely praised, the lag in its distribution is concernin...
Peggy Clark asks Dan Glickman to reflect on this past year and to share what he expects from our country under President-elect Joe Biden’s leadership.
“We are not in a rush to pull people back into the workplace,” says Rob Falzon
On November 9, 2020, as coronavirus cases surge, President-elect Joe Biden named a COVID-19 Advisory Council. Aspen Ideas has been honored to host several of the council membe...
Not by shying away from arguments but by embracing them. Arguments are our legacy and our shared history.
Two pro athletes talk about the perils of speaking up for justice in 2020, and what it would take to see progress and create measurable societal change.
The highest court often seems distanced from our day-to-day lives, but the rulings that come out of the Supreme Court are woven into the fabric of the nation. Though it aims t...
