Personal Connections

As children, I'm sure we've all watched AT LEAST two Jim Henson productions.  Considering his shows/movies air all over the world, it's easy for everyone to have access to him.  Every Thursday night, in the late 1970's/early 1980's, my cousins Kiki, Maria, Billy, my sister Maria, and I all used to drop what we were doing to race to the television at 7:30pm to watch The Muppet Show.  My aunt used to babysit us so we were together all of the time.  One weekend we had an idea to put on a skit for the grown-ups.  We acted out a public  service announcement about the dangers of smoking to your body and to the air around us.  We acted it out on the fireplace ledge.  We got this idea because we were constantly learning environmental lessons by watching The Muppet Show.  


Another time we found a baby bird in my cousins' front yard.  The bird was laying there, listless but alive.  All five of us immediately ran into the house to get my aunt.  We knew we had to take care of the bird because it was a living creature that was part of nature.  How could we possibly let it die?  This could easily have been one of the animals from The Muppet Show.  We got a shoe box, filled it with grass, and went digging for worms.  We kept that bird in that box, uncovered, for the whole day and evening.  By morning, the bird was gone.  We are still convinced, after 25 years, that the bird recovered and flew away.  :)  


My sister loved birds so much, especially the chickens on the The Muppet Show, that she stopped eating chicken as a kid.  She is now 37 years old and has been a full vegetarian since she was 20 years old.  I'm not saying that the show was the only influence on her, but it was definitely a contributing factor to her awareness of animals and their rights.  


Children are easily influenced by what they watch on TV.  Jim Henson and his messages on environmental and ecological awareness were, and still are, positive influences on children.  He relays his messages in ways that children will understand them and use them.