by Louisa Mellor
WhenSesame Street ’s 33rd season premiered a few month after September 11 , 2001 , the show ’s creator knew they had to receipt the tragic little terror attacks of that Clarence Shepard Day Jr. . The iconic children ’s show had a reputation for speak aboveboard to its young audience aboutdifficult subjects , from grief to bullying and divorce to racism . This would be no different .
“ It was a devastating time for all of us , ” Rosemarie Truglio , Sesame Workshop ’s aged frailty chairwoman of programme and content , recalled . “ We feel we need to do something in response to 9/11 , but we make love we had to be very careful , because our viewers are so young , and parents are returning to educational programming as a safe harbor for kid . ”
The key question was how to aid preschoolers understand the consequence of a terrorist attack without scaring them further . metaphor were the answer .
Rather than describe an onset on the street of Manhattan , Sesame Street ’s creator depicted a kitchen attack breaking out in Hooper ’s Store . No flames were evince , only smoke . The episode advised children on dependable behavior when see a fire : to tell a grown - up , evacuate , or “ persist low and go ” and alarm the fire department .
But the real content came in the aftermath of the ardour . Sesame Streetused its young , most vulnerable case , Elmo , to avail tyke through their anxiety . As the firefighters — real biography members of the Fire Department of New York — made the stock dependable again , Elmo was shown agitate and traumatize by the bullet , twinkle light , and strange firefighting equipment . He never wanted to go back to Hooper ’s Store again .
But he did , thanks to some patient advice from a favorable FDNY employee nominate Bill , who softly explicate the purpose of his protective clothing and taught Elmo that no matter how scarey they might look , fire fighter are there to help oneself . An educational visit to the firehouse and a ride on an locomotive engine later , and Elmo was back to finger safe again .
A version of this account ran in 2017 ; it has been updated for 2023 .
