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WTVP Headlines
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 18th, 2012
Talking to Kids About Tragic Events
A special episode of 'Arthur' will air this Wednesday,
December 19th at 6:00am and 3:00pm on WTVP-HD.
Arthur: “April 9th”
April 9th begins like any normal day ... until a fire destroys the teacher’s lounge and forces Lakewood Elementary
to close. This unexpected event finds the children dealing with a wide range of emotional reactions: Sue Ellen is
devastated when her diary is ruined. Binky sees the frightening flames up close but tries to act cool. Mr. Read
escapes a school catering job unhurt — but now Arthur is constantly worried about his dad’s safety. And Buster
feels totally left out because he overslept and completely missed the disaster!
As Arthur and his friends struggle with their feelings about the fire, they wonder if life will
ever return to normal. But with the support of parents, teachers and community members, they discover that by reaching
out and working together, they can help each other through the most difficult of times.
In addition to the episode on Wednesday, there is a companion guide called
“Helping Our Children Feel Safe”
available on the Arthur website.
Arthur: “April 9th” airs this Wednesday, December 19th at 6:00am and
3:00pm on WTVP-HD.
Sesame Street Resources:
WTVP will be airing Sesame Street Public Service Announcements (PSAs) dealing with talking to
your kids about stressful events. The Sesame Street PSAs will start airing Wednesday December 19th
in between regularly scheduled children’s programming. You may also view the PSAs on Sesame Street's YouTube page.
[watch Sesame Street PSAs]
Sesame Street also has a free downloadable booklet (PDF) to help parents address
the subject of emergencies and stressful events to their kids.
To download Sesame Street’s booklet “Here for Each Other: Helping Families After An
Emergency” [click here].
Need a PDF reader? Click the link below:
Resources from Mr. Rogers:
Mr. Rogers once said: “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me,
‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of
‘disaster,’ I remember my mother's words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many
helpers – so many caring people in this world."
‘The Fred Rogers Company’ has setup a webpage dealing with tragic events and how to communicate
to kids about them. The webpage ‘Fred Rogers talks about Tragic Events in the News' can be found at
www.fredrogers.org/FRC/par-tragic-events.html.
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For further information contact Stacey Tomczyk, WTVP Promotiion Director,
(309) 495-0594 or stacey.tomczyk@wtvp.org
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