Sesame Street Defunded

  Earlier this month, on September 4th, the official Sesame Street socials announced, “Beginning in January 2026, YouTube will have the Largest Digital library of Sesame Street content.” When I first saw this post, I thought nothing of it and that this was probably just Sesame Street trying to modernize, but then a conversation with my mom quickly changed my mind.

  Sesame Street has provided an unbiased, fun, and educational show for kids for years and has been on YouTube since 2006. So why are we just now doing this? Our current US Government is on its way to defund PBS KIDS and other public learning networks.

    This argument is similar to the popular one about school libraries. On one hand, you have parents who want to know everything their child is reading, and if it's something that doesn't align with their values, they want it gone and out of the library; on the other hand, you have the librarians, parents, and teachers who are just happy to see that their kids are reading. Now, I'm not a parent, but just because you personally don't like Sesame Street and what it is teaching your child, then you can find something else that better fits the values and lessons that you do want. Don't take your frustration out on the kids of the world who do want to watch.

On “May 2, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education notified the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) that its 2020- 2025  Ready To Learn grant is terminated, effective immediately”. ( CPB Statement) Since 1995, the U.S. Department of Education has had the Ready To Learn Programming grant competition, and CPBC and PBS have won grants in every cycle. Famously, grants from Ready To Learn have helped finance Sesame Street and so many other PBS kids shows.

With all of that said, at the end of the day, Sesame Street isn't just another kids' show. It provides an axis for fun education for the next generation.