An Educational Kit for Tough Economic Times

A booklet, a special story, and a DVD help parents explain difficult but important financial decisions and situations to their children

In the current economic climate, about two out of three middle-class families are at high risk of losing their economic security. Increases in job loss and income cuts have made families struggle with basic costs like housing, medical care, transportation, food, clothing, and childcare. Too often parents are being forced to make difficult decisions that affect their children’s well-being.

Al Roker and Deborah Roberts

In response to these hard economic times, Sesame Street co-produced a PBS primetime special, Families Stand Together: Feeling Secure in Tough Times, which premiered on September 9, 2009.

Now Sesame Workshop is extending the initiative, which is made possible with generous support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, by providing additional resources—in print and online—to local communities to help guide families during these tough times. Sesame Workshop has partnered with PBS stations in 32 key markets to deliver 200,000 bilingual educational outreach kits nationwide beginning on October 15, 2009. The kit, which is called “Families Stand Together: A Guide for Getting Through Tough Times,” consists of:

• A bilingual (English/Spanish) DVD featuring documentary moments of families as well as content to help children and families talk about the feelings and stresses they experience during economic insecurity.
•  A printed children’s story, called “No Matter Where We Are”, which offers support and strategies for families during economic transitions.
• A parent/caregiver guide which provides strategies on how to meet challenges as a family, ideas about how to explain difficult situations to young children, and tips on planning for the short- and long-term.

Resources and materials are also available online at www.sesameworkshop.org/toughtimes so that families everywhere can view the videos, download the information and even play a game.

“We saw that there was a great need for families to get information about the resources available to them on this financial crisis,” explains Maria del Rocio Galarza, the content director for the outreach kit. “And while there may be a lot of materials out there, we thought that children were not being addressed clearly. Children should understand that though there are economic changes that will affect their lives, everything will be OK. They’re still going to be taken care of.”

STRATEGIES FOR TALKING

The first step, explains Galarza, is talking with your child about the changes within the family.

“Sometimes children become part of the conversation later on. But they still know that something is happening, and they can feel it. Some of the anxieties and fears they might be experiencing are because they just don’t understand or have the information they need. For example, how do you tell your child that you lost your job? How do you tell your child that you need to move from a house to an apartment? Those are some of the key areas that we address in the materials.”

The kit contains specific pointers about how to answer kids’ tough questions, such as, “Why did Mommy lose her job?” For example, a parent might say, “It is not Mommy’s fault. This is happening to a lot of families right now because some companies, schools, hospitals and others don’t need as many workers as they did before.”

The children’s story also addresses the issue of having to downsize from a house to an apartment. It’s about Eric, a boy who has to move because his mother doesn’t have enough money to live in a house anymore.

“I miss our old house,” Eric tells his mother.

“I understand,” she says, “but we can make a place special no matter where we are.”

Eric then learns that home is really where the heart is, and that good things can happen no matter where he and his mother live.

Other difficult questions the kit addresses include, “Why can’t we buy this?”

Galarza says addressing that question begins with an explanation of “needs” versus “wants.”

She explains, “Even if it’s a parent saying, ‘I want this, but I’m not buying it because I don’t need it’—that, in itself, will help children understand what the changes in the situation mean to the family.”

INEXPENSIVE FUN

The kit then outlines how to move from talk to action, and how the family can learn to be resourceful together. This includes finding inexpensive ways to have fun.

“A lot of the things that we do for fun do not necessarily cost a lot of money,” Galarza says. “And we wanted families to know that spending time together and finding those happy moments with their children are still important—no matter how different the situation might be.”

The kit even includes “coupons” redeemable for free things such as “an extra big hug,” “20 minutes of dancing,” and “one cry.”

“Our key goals are really for families—or those who have been struck hard by job loss or foreclosure—to find ways to communicate with their children, and know that there’s help out there,” says Project Director Jenny Lam. Many people feel very isolated and alone. But there are resources out there to help children feel positive and to show them how they can be part of the solution.”

For more info please visit us at: http://www.sesameworkshop.org/toughtimes