Top 10 Serious Issues That Were Dealt with in Kids TV Shows

Though most TV shows are aimed at kids both in animation and live action it was not uncommon for most kids shows to tackle serious and at times taboo subjects that you really wouldn't expect to see in a kids show for this list we will be looking at the top 10 serious issues that have been dealt with in kids shows.
The Top Ten
1 Death

So many kids shows have dealt with the issue of death wither it's a pet or a loved one even Sesame Street dealt with the issue after Will Lee the actor who played Mr. Hooper died and dealt with the issue head on.

Agreed. A lot of cartoon episodes dealt with issues like this, such as the episode "Mother's Day" from Rugrats. These episodes are incredibly emotional.

2 Cancer

Two episodes that dealt with the subject that come to mind are Arthur's "The Great McGrady" in which Mrs. McGrady is diagnosed with cancer and everyone react to the new differently with Francine being most effected by it and another is the Peanuts special "Why, Charlie Brown, Why? " n which classmate Janice is diagnosed with cancer specifically leukemia.

3 Child Abuse

One episode from Full House "Silence is Not Golden" dealt with the issue after Stephanie is paired up with another student Charles and finds out his father abuses him.

Look at Madeline: Lost in Paris That 1999 Disney film Show child abuse AND neglect in between the 30 minute mark and the 60 minute mark!

4 Racism

Several kid show episodes have touched on this the That's So Raven episode "True Color's" where Raven doesn't get the job at a clothing store despite proving herself in the interview then gets a vision where she sees the manager of the store claiming she doesn't hire black people, another episode is from Static Shock episode "Sons of the Father" where Virgil finds out that the reason Richie never lets him come over is because his father is a racist.

Nowadays, it's kinda normal for a kid show to deal with it, before 2014/2015, it was really only on E/I shows, but now pretty much every kids cartoon featuring humans is doing it. Some can be done well while others can ruffle the wrong feathers.

In the same "Shining Time Station" episode mentioned under "sexism", the president of the Nickelaire Club also denied the station's handyman membership in the club. Said handyman was Native American/an indigenous person.

5 Abusive Relationships

Two episodes from kids cartoons that come to mind Steven Univers's "Alone at Sea" and Courage the Cowardly Dog "The Mask" both deal with abusive relationships and both handle it with care and respect unlike Family Guy's "Screams of Silence".

6 Divorce

We didn't see Snuffy's parents get a divorce, but we did get a baby bird singing about living in two trees (the word "divorce" wasn't mentioned but it was obvious what had happened) and Abby Cadabby's parents were said to be divorced.

There was a Sesame Street episode called Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce but it never aired to the public.

Mister Rogers Neighborhood also dealt with the subject.

7 Gang Violence

Another Episode that dealt with this was the Madeline Episode Madeline and the Mean, Nasty, Horrible Hats. in this Episode Pepito invites Madeline and the Girls to his Cousins house when they realize that his cousins (Or should I say 3) Where apart of their own gang! As soon as they Discover them, they began to pick on them even up to the point where they Deliberately create Traps for Madeline, the girls, and Even Pepito! No wonder Lord cucuface is a borderline sensitive SJW at Miss Clavell! she Didn't watch them! Though Nonetheless, The humor in this Episode is really Funny! it's just the Gang that Triggers me.

8 Bullying

One episode that stands out the most dealing with bully is the Static Shock episode "Jimmy" where a teen Jimmy is relentlessly bullied by a group of students to the point that he steals his fathers gun with the intention of killing his tormentors.

This is pretty common in quite a lot of Kids TV Shows. One I can think of is Plankton (bullied to attempting suicide).

Many shows deal with bullying.

9 Pedophiles

Two episodes that deal with this that come to mind Smart Guy's "Strangers on the Net" and although its more of a family sitcom then an actual kids show Different Strokes's "The Bicycle Man".

10 AIDS
The Contenders
11 Animal Abuse

My least faveriote thing in the world! If you abuse animals you have something coming because Dragons ( nature's gardeins ) are coming to destroy people who do not respect nature.

They dealt with this in Thomas.

12 War

Sesame Street had a series of specials made specifically for children of military families when Gulf War II happened. It dealt with Elmo's dad being deployed, Elmo's friend's dad being wounded, and Elmo's uncle dying. War, at least no specific one, wasn't mentioned but it's obvious that's what was going on.

Mr Rogers devoted a whole week of shows to this. These episodes have never officially been rerun since 1996 (7 years before Rogers' death) and were not shown during the 2017 Twitch marathon.

13 Sexism

The Nickel-Aire Club episode of Shining Time Station. The president of said club, like his grandfather to her grandmother before him, would not allow Ms Jones (Didi Conn, Frenchy from "Grease") into the club because she was a woman.

14 Gun Violence

In the Gargoyles episode "Deadly Force" Broadway plays around with Elisa's gun while imitating a scene he saw from a western movie and accidentally shoots as he's left horrified seeing her unconscious on the floor in a pool of her own blood.

15 Suicide

The last episode of Tom & Jerry they wait for the train to k!ll them after a heart break

16 Teen Pregnancy

One episode from Fat Albert has the gang's friend Liz who's a teen mom dealing with raising her new baby Monica at one point in the episode Liz becomes so overwhelmed by her responsibility's a mom that she almost hits her baby out frustration but stops herself.

Degrassi Junior High (yes, JUNIOR high) in the late '80s saw Christine Nelson (better known as "Spike") get pregnant/give birth to future Degrassi protaganist Emma.

17 Homosexuality

Before it became all but mandatory to feature gay characters in kid's shows, there was an episode of "Student Bodies" (a show similar to "Saved By the Bell" and likely meant to replace it) where one of character's was visited by a childhood friend. Said childhood friend turned out to be lesbian, something the rest of the regular cast accepted but the one girl didn't come around until the last five minutes of the episode.

To think there was a time it was considered a serious issue. Now we have shows like "The Loud House", "Arthur", and "Good Luck Charlie" having background/supporting characters but acting like it's nothing special.

In the Braceface episode "The Social Fabric" Sharron is paired with a high school mentor Dion who is gay and an aspiring fashion designer who is treated horribly by several of of the students and even Sharron starts to distance herself from him to avoid being shunned herself by the other students.

18 Drugs

"Jem" had a girl admitted to the orphanage the title character (or rather her secret identity, Jerrica Benton) ran, who promptly developed a dependency on pills. Oddly enough the girl was never seen or mentioned again despite surviving.

Jessie's caffeine pill addiction and breakdown ("I'm so excited, I'm so... scared) in "Saved By the Bell", anyone?

19 Fire

That "Hogan Family" (does the that count? ) episode mentioned elsewhere on this list, "Sesame Street" on at least two occasions, the episode of "Arthur" titled "April 9th", and the last episode of "Degrassi Junior High" before it became "Degrassi High" are the ones I remember.

The "Arthur" episode and one of the "Sesame Street" episodes cited were actually done in response to 9/11; a way to address it without actually mentioning it.

Yep. Fireman Sam instantly springs to mind.

20 Disabilities

Sesame Street has a character named Julia, and she's Autistic. Very accurate/friendly way to present Autism.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers has one episode about a girl who's deaf

I know that character, it does have autism so it's not the wrong picture guys, just a point out

21 Homelessness

Not sure if it's a "kid's show" per se or if the situation counts, but an episode of "The Hogan Family" saw the titular family's house burn down before the first commercial break. For the rest of the episode, they lived with their next door neighbors (played by Edie McClurg and Willard Scott) and had to put up with said neighbors' antics and each other.

In a two-part Christmas episode, the "Saved By the Bell" gang befriended a girl who turned out to be homeless. Zack's dad later invited the girl and her single father to spend Christmas with them.

22 Eating Disorders

Candace Cameron Bure really did suffer from an eating disorder around the time the episode of "Full House" where her character develops one was made.

That infamous episode from Shake It Up.

23 Depression
24 Autism

It's been done in Sesame Street. I added this because it's something people need help understanding.

I also have autism

I have autism

25 Drinking

Tiny Toon Adventures and Trigun (anime) has one episode of drinking

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