topic by
John Calvin
7/2/2002 (19:59) |
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Perfect program for Adam and his friends! Right on a level they will be able to appreciate, you know, for four and five year old pre-schoolers.
MEANWHILE The long road to peace starts at Sesame Street
Barry James International Herald Tribune
Tuesday, July 2, 2002
PARIS A question for world leaders: In a crisis should you 1) send in the Marines? 2) Send in Kofi Annan? 3) Send in the Muppets? The last is the least likely option, but according to the Sesame Workshop, which is behind the puppet characters, it might be the most effective in the long run.
The workshop is not only a nonprofit educational enterprise, but also an international nongovernment organization. It uses broadcasting and educational expertise to 'promote respect and understanding among children' - even at an early age - in the hope it endures into adulthood, according to Sesame's president, Gary Knell.
Local adaptations of Sesame Street are accepted on both sides of the Arab-Israeli conflict, in Egypt, Russia, China and many other countries because, Knell said, 'we work in a culturally specific way to promote the educational priorities in a given country. In Russia, the show used the concept of a lemonade stand to show that one could be in business, make a profit and be a nice person - to counter the stereotype that all businessmen belong to the Mafia.
'We are not monoculture. We are not Disney. We are not seen as an American company dumping values,' Knell said in an interview. 'We are taking and promoting values from other societies as well.'
Knell said the Muppet world, rather than being a fantasy realm for young viewers, is meant to be a window on reality, introducing pre-schoolers to difficult concepts like conflict, loss, death or even Aids.
The workshop has also devised a soap opera, using actors rather than puppets, to teach older children lessons of respect and tolerance in Macedonia. Programs, which are co-produced with a conflict resolution agency called the Center for Common Ground and partly financed by the European Union, UNESCO and several governments, seek to break down stereotypes in ethnic conflicts.
The Macedonia series, called 'Our Neighborhood,' shows a gritty apartment house occupied by Serbs, Turks, Albanians and gypsies. The series challenges children to explore views that Albanians or gypsies steal, and pokes fun at the Macedonians for their ignorance of their neighbors.
'We try to teach realism, to show how people are coping,' Knell said. 'Not everyone is happy and singing.' A character on the show called Grouch barks at everyone, 'because those kind of people exist, too. We have different colored Muppets just as there are different colored people. We've dealt with issues like death, life and marriage or sickness and we handle them in sensitive ways that children can absorb and understand. In the Middle East we try to show children how to respect differences.'
In programs destined for Israel or the Palestinians, Sesame Street looks for uniting features - like humus and falafel, dishes enjoyed by children on both sides in the conflict. In Egypt, the workshop has been working with the government to promote education for girls, and show them role models, such as doctors, to which they can aspire. In South Africa it is trying to explain the loss caused by aids and prevent the stigmatization of HIV-positive people.
One of the workshop's toughest challenges has been how to explain to very young children the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. 'International terrorism is too complex, but you can deal with issues around fear,' Knell said. 'We did a segment in which a store on Sesame Street catches fire, and the fire department comes in. A fire fighter, with all that equipment and the head gear, is a very scary figure to a little child.' But the firefighter takes timorous Elmo, one of the show's best-loved characters, to the firehouse to show him how it works. Another segment, about a hurricane, tries to convey messages about loss and how communities come together in a crisis.
Knell says the workshop teaches that not all the streets in America are paved with gold, as some Hollywood movies suggest, and 'not all Americans look like Britney Spears. We are showing an America that's diverse, that has issues.' At the same time, the workshop introduces American children to the values of other societies. 'We aim to show children that 'everyone is different, but everyone is also the same,' Knell said.
International Herald Tribune
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