Why Is a Defense Contractor Paying for Sesame Street's Parents-in-Jail Lesson?

"Sesame Street — home of Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Elmo — rarely incites controversy. But on Sunday the website of the Public Broadcasting Corporation's endlessly influential children's education show uploaded a curious feature called "Little Children, Big Challenges: Incarceration."...

"Maybe the most awkward part of "Little Children, Big Challenges," however, is the feature's main sponsor, BAE Systems. The British contractor, whose U.S. subsidiary is one of the largest suppliers to the Department of Defense, depends — like many other defense contractors — on the low-overhead labor of prisoners incarcerated at for-profit facilities. That said, BAE has a large philanthropic arm, and perhaps "Little Children, Big Challenges" was one of the more obvious projects to support...."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/06/sesame-street-incarceration-feature/66095/

See also:

Viewpoint: What’s Missing from Sesame Street’s Parents in Prison Toolkit - TIME

http://acesconnection.com/profiles/blogs/viewpoint-what-s-missing-from-sesame-street-s-parents-in-prison

Helping Little Children Face Big Challenges ... Including a Parent in Prison

http://www.rwjf.org/en/blogs/culture-of-health/2013/06/helping_little_child.html

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