From Oakland to New York to Sesame Street, Kids are Hungry

This New York Times article on the childhood hunger epidemic in Alameda County has been making the rounds at my work.

One noteworthy point the article makes: at some of the 90n or so Oakland schools that serve free breakfast to students, the meal has been incorporated into the first instructional period of the day.  Translation: kids are eating in class.  And it works better for everybody.  Of course it's distracting, but teachers were finding that the alternative to eating in class wasn't that kids eat earlier--it was that they don't eat.  Since kids can't learn or function on an empty stomach, having breakfast as soon as they get to school means they are more attentive, more alert, more responsive in class.

Meanwhile, down on Sesame Street....
PBS introduced a new Muppet this past Sunday:  Lily, a seven-year-old child whose family deals with food insecurity.  It's sort of heartbreaking that hunger among children is widespread enough that Sesame Street producers felt the need to create a new character for kids to relate to, someone likable on a show they trust who also does not know where her food will come from on any given day.  But I think it's exciting that Sesame Street is taking on the topic. 
Did you watch? 
(Here's a Millennial confession for you:  I didn't, because I literally could not identify a nearby friend with access to network television.  Everyone in my area watches tv on the internet.  Hope PBS makes this available online...)