Sesame Street introduces "Alex" whose father is in prison... Hit or Miss???

Hello Naturalistas,

Now most of you know that I am a mother as well as natural. I am first and foremost concerned about anything that effects my children. I have been watching Sesame Street since I was a small child and as a mother of a one and three year old I encourage them to watch the show as well. Along with iconic characters such as Big Bird and Elmo the show aids children in learning phonics and numbers, as well as, life lessons like making friends or doing chores to help out around the house. Not to mention all the educational material with Sesame Street's name on it (books, games, DVD's, etc.) I absolutely love the "Elmo's ABC" app on my iPad 2 for my three year old. That very app helped me to teach my daughter all of her letters and the sounds they make. Pretty awesome!

Well, you can imagine my surprise when I saw a news article this morning on MSN about a new Muppet named "Alex" whose father is in jail. (tires screech) Huh? You mean to tell me that there is a character......on Sesame Street..... that has a dad.......in jail? What the? My initial reaction was ummmm no. But after reading several articles related to this news I think its not so bad. Think about it! More and more children have parents who are, have been, or will go to prison/jail in their lifetime. No one ever addresses these children (or their families) and the difficulties that come along with such a situation. Its actually quite groundbreaking in my opinion.

 I remember a few years ago the Sesame Street program in South Africa introduced a new character called "Kami" who was HIV positive. I thought "Great now the children who have HIV/AIDS will have someone on television that they can relate too and maybe learn about the condition from a reputable source. Above is an ad former President Clinton did with Kami to promote awareness in South Africa.


 You can find the article I read on MSN about "Alex" right >>>here<<<! Tell me what you think below. Is this new character a good idea or do you think Sesame Street has taken it too far this time???