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

Many kids' shows have dealt with the issue of death, whether it involves a pet or a loved one. Even Sesame Street addressed it after the death of Will Lee, the actor who played Mr. Hooper, confronting the subject head-on.

Agreed. Many cartoon episodes have dealt with death. One example is the Rugrats episode "Mother's Day", which was incredibly emotional.

Two episodes that dealt with cancer come to mind. One is from Arthur, titled "The Great McGrady," in which Mrs. McGrady is diagnosed with cancer, and everyone reacts differently, with Francine being most affected. Another is the Peanuts special Why, Charlie Brown, Why?, where Janice, a classmate of Charlie Brown, is diagnosed with leukemia.

One episode of Full House, titled "Silence is Not Golden", addressed child abuse. In this episode, Stephanie is paired with another student named Charles and discovers that his father is abusive.

Take a look at Madeline: Lost in Paris, a 1999 Disney film that showed child abuse and neglect between the 30-minute and 60-minute marks.

Several kid shows have touched on racism. One example is the That's So Raven episode "True Colors," where Raven doesn't get the job at a clothing store despite performing well in the interview. She later gets a vision where she sees the store manager stating that she doesn't hire Black people. Another example is from Static Shock, in the episode "Sons of the Father," where Virgil discovers the reason Richie never lets him visit his house is because Richie's father is a racist.

Nowadays, it's fairly common for kids' shows to address racism. Before 2014/2015, this was mainly seen in E/I (educational/informational) programming, but now almost every kids' cartoon featuring human characters tackles the issue. Some shows handle it well, while others can be more controversial.

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

While we didn't explicitly see Snuffy's parents get a divorce on Sesame Street, a baby bird sang about living in two trees, which strongly implied the situation. Similarly, Abby Cadabby's parents were said to be divorced.

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

Mister Rogers' Neighborhood also dealt with the subject.

One standout episode that addresses bullying is Static Shock's episode "Jimmy." In this episode, a teenager named Jimmy is relentlessly bullied by a group of students, leading him to steal his father's gun with the intention of killing his tormentors.

Bullying is a common theme in many kids' TV shows. One example that comes to mind is Plankton in SpongeBob SquarePants, who was bullied to the point of contemplating suicide.

Many shows deal with bullying.

Two episodes dealing with this issue come to mind. Smart Guy's "Strangers on the Net" and Diff'rent Strokes's "The Bicycle Man" both address the danger of pedophiles. Although Diff'rent Strokes is more of a family sitcom than a kids' show, it still tackled this serious issue.

Sesame Street created a series of specials specifically for children of military families during the time of the Gulf War II. These episodes dealt with Elmo's dad being deployed, Elmo's friend's dad being wounded, and Elmo's uncle dying. While no specific war is mentioned, it's clear that these events were related to the war.

Mr. Rogers devoted an entire week of shows to the topic of war. These episodes were never officially rerun after 1996 (seven years before Rogers' death) and were also not shown during the 2017 Twitch marathon.

They dealt with this in Thomas the Tank Engine.

The Nickel-Aire Club episode of Shining Time Station addressed sexism. The president of the club, following the tradition set by his grandfather, refused to allow Ms. Jones (played by Didi Conn, who also portrayed Frenchy in Grease) to join because she was a woman.

In the Gargoyles episode "Deadly Force," Broadway plays with Elisa's gun while imitating a scene from a Western movie and accidentally shoots her. He is left horrified when he sees her unconscious and bleeding on the floor.

One episode of Fat Albert dealt with teen pregnancy, where the gang's friend Liz, a teen mom, is struggling to raise her baby, Monica. At one point, Liz becomes so overwhelmed by the responsibilities of motherhood that she almost hits her baby out of frustration but stops herself just in time.

In the late '80s, Degrassi Junior High tackled the issue of teen pregnancy when Christine Nelson, better known as "Spike", became pregnant and later gave birth to Emma, who went on to become a main character in the Degrassi series.

Before it became common to feature gay characters in kids' 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 the characters is visited by a childhood friend. That friend turns out to be a lesbian. While most of the regular cast is accepting, one girl struggles with it, only coming around in the last five minutes of the episode.

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

In Jem, a girl is admitted to the orphanage run by Jerrica Benton (Jem's secret identity) and quickly develops a dependency on pills. Oddly enough, the character was never seen or mentioned again, despite surviving.

Remember Jessie's caffeine pill addiction and breakdown on Saved by the Bell? The scene where she cries, "I'm so excited, I'm so... scared," is a memorable moment.

The Hogan Family episode mentioned earlier dealt with fire. Other shows have also addressed this topic, such as Sesame Street on at least two occasions, the Arthur episode titled "April 9th," and the final episode of Degrassi Junior High before the series transitioned to Degrassi High.

The Arthur episode and one of the Sesame Street episodes mentioned were actually created in response to 9/11 as a way to address the event without directly mentioning it.

Yep, Fireman Sam instantly springs to mind.

Sesame Street features a character named Julia, who is autistic. It's a very accurate and friendly portrayal of autism.

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

Tiny Toon Adventures and Trigun (anime) each have an episode involving drinking.