+
More

John Legend visits 'Sesame Street' to talk about kids with incarcerated parents.

Both Legend and "Sesame Street" have been doing work on this topic for years.

"Sesame Street" is at its best when it's tackling some of life's trickier issues, and their new video is no exception.

Singer John Legend sat down with the cast of "Sesame Street" to discuss the 2.7 million U.S. children with parents in jail or prison. The short segment featured a few of these kids telling some of the "Sesame Street" characters how they cope with not being able to see their parents on a regular basis. (A lot of them seem to enjoy drawing pictures.)

There's sadness in the kids' voices, but it's inspiring to see some of the creative ways they're dealing with the hand they've been given.


"We incarcerate so many people, and a lot of times we forget about their kids that are left behind and how it feels for them to be without parents," Legend told People magazine about his appearance. "The emotional effect that it has on them, the financial effect it has on their families as well — I think a lot of times we forget about that toll of incarcerating so many people."

Legend's "Sesame Street" appearance highlights some of the collateral damage caused by mass incarceration, including the damaging and lasting financial and social effects it has on an inmate's family and children. When you factor in the types of challenges a child might have going from a two-income household to a single-income household (or even a household without any income at all), it could result in that child being more likely to live below the poverty line or wind up incarcerated themselves.

This isn't the first time "Sesame Street" has centered the lives and stories of kids affected by parental incarceration.

Back in 2013, they introduced a new character named Alex, whose backstory included that his dad was in prison.

Alex's big episode also featured a really powerful animated short about what it's like for these kids to visit family in prison and how painful and sad it can be to be kept at such a distance from some of the people they love more than anything in the world.

The following year, Sesame Workshop teamed up with a group of young filmmakers who've had a parent in prison to make the Echoes of Incarceration Project, which seeks to address the very specific issues these kids have to deal with.

The finished product is a truly gut-wrenching watch where you see just how children have, in many cases, become collateral damage in our culture of mass incarceration.

Luckily, there are things that you (yes, you!) can do to help out — and that help is sorely needed, especially around the holidays.

"Sesame Street's" Little Children, Big Challenges project contains a lot of really great resources for families with children aged 3 to 8 to address some of the specific challenges they'll face as the result of their parents' incarceration.

Kids might have questions like, "Who will take me to school?" or "Is this my fault?" Some of the Little Children, Big Challenges resources help walk through some of those commonly-asked questions and struggles.

In 2015, Legend launched Free America, a campaign aimed at changing how we, as a country, discuss incarceration and the criminal justice system as a whole.

Organizations like New York's Children of Promise, In Arms Reach, and Hour Children; Prison Fellowship's Angel Tree Christmas present project; Alabama's SKIP, Inc.; Florida's Children of Inmates; Georgia's Foreverfamily; Rutgers University's National Resource Center on Children and Families of the Incarcerated; and national group Rainbows For All Children all do work addressing this important issue and could use a little extra support. (Disclaimer: Be sure to check out their websites before donating to make sure you're comfortable with where your money is going.)

These kids deserve as much love and support as anyone else, and we can help give them the start in life that they're owed.

Joy

Sorry, Labradors. After 31 years, America has a new favorite dog.

The American Kennel Club has crowned a new favorite.

via Pixabay

A sad-looking Labrador Retriever

The sweet-faced, loveable Labrador Retriever is no longer America’s favorite dog breed. The breed best known for having a heart of gold has been replaced by the smaller, more urban-friendly French Bulldog.

According to the American Kennel Club, for the past 31 years, the Labrador Retriever was America’s favorite dog, but it was eclipsed in 2022 by the Frenchie. The rankings are based on nearly 716,500 dogs newly registered in 2022, of which about 1 in 7 were Frenchies. Around 108,000 French Bulldogs were recorded in the U.S. in 2022, surpassing Labrador Retrievers by over 21,000.

Keep ReadingShow less
Today Info/Youtube

Taylor Swift "diving" below the stage of her Eras Tour concert

The highly anticipated, Ticketmaster-bustingTaylor Swift Eras Tour has officially begun. And it’s looking like the pop star is pulling out all the stops to deliver a heap of spectacle.

Case in point—a video from the “Anti-Hero” pop star's kick-off concert that’s making quite the splash online.

In a mesmerizing blend of live performance and hologram wizardry, audiences saw Swift, clad in a flowy red dress, dive into a pool built into the stage. She then swam across to emerge through waves in a shimmery jumpsuit, just before climbing a ladder and disappearing into a cloud.

Basically, it was like a romantic fairy tale brought to life.

Keep ReadingShow less
Joy

An 8-year-old snuck his handwritten book onto a library shelf. Now it has a 56-person waiting list.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel— written by "Dillon His Self"—captured the hearts of his local librarians and their patrons.

Dillon Helbig's 81-page graphic novel captured the hearts of his local librarians.

Writing a book is no easy task, even for adult professional writers. Many would-be authors dream of a day when their work can be found on library shelves, unsure if it will ever come.

But for 8-year-old Dillon Helbig, that day has already arrived—in truly unconventional fashion—thanks to his own determination to make it happen.

Dillon wrote his 81-page graphic novel, "The Adventures of Dillon Helbig's Crismis" (written by "Dillon His Self") in a hardcover journal with colored pencils over the course of a few days. He even put a label on the back of the book that reads "Made in Idho" [sic] and put an illustrated spine label on it as well. Then, without telling anyone, he brought it to his local library in Boise, Idaho, and slipped it in among the books in the children's section.

Keep ReadingShow less
via Pexels

A mom takes a selfie with her two children.

France’s National Assembly has passed a new law that could seriously impact parents’ ability to share photos of their children online. If passed by the Senate and signed by the president, it would give courts the power to ban parents from posting pictures of their children online.

The bill is controversial because it takes away parents’ rights and puts them in the hands of the government. But supporters believe there are more than a few good reasons for the potential ban.

First, it keeps the child’s image out of the hands of unsavory characters. Member of Parliament Bruno Studer, who proposed the bill, told Le Monde, “'A 13-year-old child has an average of 1,300 images of themselves circulating on the internet. These are photos that can be misused for child pornography or that can lead to bullying in the school environment.”

Keep ReadingShow less

Bruce Willis recently celebrated his 68th birthday.

Back in March 2022, legendary action actor Bruce Willis was diagnosed with aphasia and took an official step away from the spotlight. Then, in February 2023, the beloved "Die Hard" star progressed into frontotemporal dementia, an incurable brain disorder often mistaken for Alzheimer’s that mainly affects personality, behavior and language, according to the Mayo Clinic.


Despite the tragic news, Willis is supported by loved ones, as seen in a video posted by ex-wife Demi Moore. The clip, posted to Twitter on March 19, captures Willis' family surrounding him in celebration of his 68th birthday.
Keep ReadingShow less

A Korean mother and her son

A recently posted story on Reddit shows a mother confidently standing up for her family after being bullied by a teacher for her culture. Reddit user Flowergardens0 posted the story to the AITA forum, where people ask whether they are wrong in a specific situation.

Over 5,600 people commented on the story, and an overwhelming majority thought the mother was right. Here’s what went down:

“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

Keep ReadingShow less