12 Youngsters’ Reveals That Lined Extraordinarily Darkish Subjects

To a passing observer, a lot of youngsters’s tv could come off as crude or odd. A father or mother may even see their child watching one thing with brilliant, flashing colours and surprise what precisely it is doing to their growth. Fact be informed, numerous youngsters’s media is designed to introduce children to essential life classes, like the need of claiming sorry. And even when an episode is about one thing as inconsequential as using an enormous boulder to ship a Krusty Krab pizza, it could actually nonetheless develop into a touchstone in so many lives. 

Youngsters are smarter than adults are generally prepared to present them credit score for. These working in youngsters’s media absolutely perceive that, which is why some children’ reveals often delve into darker topics that will make some surprise if it is actually applicable for somebody who’s not even 10 but. Nonetheless, it is essential for teenagers to at the very least have a baseline information of sure topics in order that they will strategy it with extra nuance later in life. From despair to habit, there is a good probability many individuals’s first publicity to those matters got here from their favourite TV collection.

Darkish matters in youngsters’s reveals are nothing to draw back from. And now that you simply’re an grownup studying /Movie, listed here are a few of episodes in children TV reveals with darkish matters that you will have glossed over earlier in life which have higher thematic resonance than you initially realized. 

“Hey Arnold!” was a surprisingly profound youngsters’s present that noticed the titular Arnold assist the individuals across the metropolis with their issues. In season 5’s “Chocolate Boy,” he assists the character of the identical title. Up up to now, Chocolate Boy was largely used as a gag — a younger child obsessive about chocolate, typically having it smeared throughout his face. However in “Chocolate Boy,” he realizes he has a real drawback after dancing for malted milk balls and scrounging round in a dumpster attempting to get his subsequent candy repair. 

The episode affords a nuanced tackle habit, with Chocolate Boy hitting all-time low earlier than really taking sobriety severely. After hypnosis, Arnold will get to the center of Chocolate Boy’s habit — his nanny leaving him. Habit is a fancy area, however utilizing substances, whether or not it is alcohol or chocolate, is a typical method to make up for a way of abandonment. By the top of the episode, Chocolate Boy’s off chocolate, however he is now consuming tons of of radishes a day, successfully buying and selling one vice for an additional. One may argue consuming radishes on a regular basis is best than chocolate, however buying and selling one habit for an additional is a typical conduct that may really make yet one more vulnerable to relapse. 

That is exactly what occurs right here. Later episodes present Chocolate Boy’s face smeared in chocolate as soon as once more, which ought to’ve been anticipated seeing as between 40% and 60% of addicts relapse sooner or later. 

Should you or anybody you realize wants assist with habit points, assist is offered. Go to the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration web site or contact SAMHSA’s Nationwide Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

It is smart for “Lizzie McGuire,” a present a couple of teenage woman going through the trials and tribulations of adolescence, to deal with a social difficulty that impacts far too many younger women: consuming problems. In season 2’s “Internal Magnificence,” Gordo (Adam Lamberg) movies a music video that includes Lizzie (Hilary Duff) and Miranda (Lalaine), when he makes an off-hand comment about how a lot Miranda’s consuming. Miranda begins believing she seems fats in photographs, a lot to the protest of her associates, and he or she stops consuming completely at lunch. It virtually results in her fainting once they observe dancing once more. 

Research recommend a reported 22% of youngsters and adolescents worldwide endure from some degree of disordered consuming, with younger women being significantly susceptible. Regardless of physique picture points generally taking years to resolve, Miranda’s completely superb by the top of the episode. This is probably not stunning to an extent, as TV reveals typically should fall again on the established order, but it surely makes “Internal Magnificence” fall into the camp of “very particular” TV episodes that supply a simple decision for classy points. 

Maybe the episode’s simple resolution foreshadowed what was to return with the deliberate “Lizzie McGuire” reboot, which was reportedly canned for not being as “family-friend” as Disney would’ve preferred. At the very least “Internal Magnificence” reveals Lizzie attempting to be buddy and discuss to Miranda about her issues, exemplifying the significance of associates being prepared to have these robust conversations. 

Should you need assistance with an consuming dysfunction, or know somebody who does, assist is offered. Go to the Nationwide Consuming Issues Affiliation web site or contact NEDA’s Reside Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can too obtain 24/7 Disaster Assist through textual content (ship NEDA to 741-741).

“Bluey” could also be for youthful children, but it surely’s simple to see why so many mother and father gravitate towards it. The ending of “The Signal” episode of “Bluey” emphasizes the significance of oldsters being emotionally obtainable for his or her youngsters, and different installments focus on issues like infertility in methods children can comprehend. Season 3’s “The Decider” additionally falls into that camp, the place the Heelers have the household throughout the road be a part of them in watching a rugby sport. Nonetheless, Chucky feels conflicted all through the sport as a result of his mom’s throughout the road, rooting for the opposite crew. He does not know which crew to root for and finds himself actually caught within the center. 

It is not explicitly about divorce and youngster custody, but it surely’s simple to attract a parallel. Adults can (generally inadvertently) put children into the combination of their very own conflicts. The rivalry between Chucky’s mother and father is all in good enjoyable, however Chucky nonetheless looks like he has to select, not desirous to disappoint both father or mother. 

“The Decider” not solely reveals children the way it’s pure to really feel put into the center of grownup conflicts, but it surely additionally reveals mother and father the importance of supporting no matter selection a toddler makes, even when it hurts them personally. 

Turning into a youngster typically means sorting via new, complicated feelings. It may be robust to determine what these feelings imply and even more durable when different persons are insisting they know what they’re greater than you. “As Advised by Ginger” tackled many points preteens face as they work out who they need to be, and nowhere is that extra obvious than in “And She Was Gone.” The episode sees Ginger write a poem a couple of girl related by strings who merely yearns to go away. With strains like, “She did not have companions / No want for earthly issues / Solely needed freedom / From what she felt have been puppet strings,” it is maybe no surprise her trainer and college psychologist fearful about her having despair. 

The poem’s recurring motif of the lady lastly disappearing completely may recommend one thing darker, and whereas it is good to an extent these authority figures needed to ensure Ginger was okay, her declarations of being superb go ignored. Based mostly on what we all know from the character, she most likely is ok (or at the very least not any extra depressed than different preteens). 

There’s one thing much more nuanced happening with “And She Was Gone” than simply being the despair episode of “As Advised by Ginger.” Whereas Ginger could not require long-term remedy for despair, she mentions the way it was good to speak about her emotions. That is an important lesson: sooner or later or one other, everybody feels down and may gain advantage from simply voicing their feelings.

Apologies if you happen to needed to get via immediately with out sobbing uncontrollably, however it is time to discuss concerning the “Mom’s Day” episode of “Rugrats.” Among the best ’90s cartoons often noticed the infants use their imaginations for playtime, however every now and then, it introduced issues crashing again all the way down to actuality. That is the case right here because the tykes make Mom’s Day presents for his or her mothers — apart from Chuckie, who realizes he does not have a mom. In fact, he does, however she handed away sooner or later, and whereas scrounging round a closet, they come upon photographs of her. 

Demise is perhaps the darkest factor for a youngsters’s TV present to deal with, particularly one the place the central characters can barely even stroll but. Nonetheless, it is a pure a part of life, one which impacts individuals of all ages. Chas needs to place the photographs away, however Didi insists that he proceed speaking about her in order that neither he nor Chuckie neglect about her. Simply because somebody has handed away does not imply their recollections should fade, too. 

“Mom’s Day” reveals how youngsters will be confused by loss of life, and even adults aren’t immune. For youths watching, it reveals how even adults do not at all times understand how to answer loss of life, so it is completely okay for them to not both. 

The 2000s featured many technological developments. The web grew to become extra commonplace the place many individuals obtained it for the primary time, and social media started ramping up with websites like Friendster and MySpace. For preteens and youngsters, warnings about not trusting all the things you see on-line. By 2024, that adage appears to have gone unheeded, however “Sister, Sister” at the very least tried to do its half with “Mannequin Tia.”

Tamera (Tamera Mowry) begins speaking with somebody claiming to be a photographer who might help her sister, Tia (Tia Mowry), get well-known. Their mother and father understandably don’t need them assembly up with this man, however Tamera goes anyway, pretending to be Tia. As soon as at his place, Varique (Keith Amos) tries to get her to mannequin a bikini for him. Tamera manages to get out of the state of affairs all proper, however the lesson is evident: Do not belief who you meet on-line, and undoubtedly do not meet up with them in individual.

Stranger hazard has been a factor for many years, however when “Mannequin Tia” got here out in 1997, the web was nonetheless one thing individuals have been getting accustomed to. And it is good for teenagers to grasp find out how to safely navigate it. Now if solely “Sister, Sister” had an episode to show boomers about not believing each information story that comes on their social media feed, we may’ve averted numerous complications within the modern-day. 

“Steven Universe” was praised for tackling themes like nervousness and loss of life, and “Steven Universe Future,” an epilogue collection to the unique one, adopted these up splendidly. In reality, it took issues a step additional by recontextualizing a lot of what occurred within the first present, with /Movie’s evaluate of “Steven Universe Future” praising the way it handles surviving via trauma. No episode handles that extra explicitly than “Rising Pains.” 

The episode sees Steven going via immense bodily modifications, solely to comprehend it is a response to the emotional trauma he endured as a toddler. “Steven Universe” noticed the titular character get attacked by monsters, watch clones of himself get dissolved, and see his associates virtually die. And that is simply the tip of the iceberg. All this stuff are widespread plot factors in action-oriented TV reveals, however “Rising Pains” tackles how badly any a kind of would badly harm somebody’s psyche. Steven endured quite a bit, and trauma can have as a lot of a bodily affect on an individual as a psychological one. 

Loads of individuals grew up watching the likes of “Energy Rangers,” “Ben 10,” and quite a few different collection the place literal youngsters should save the world. That is a heavy duty for anybody, particularly those that cannot even legally vote but. Different reveals do not actually handle the psychological affect continually getting attacked by monsters would have on somebody, however then once more, “Steven Universe” (and by proxy “Steven Universe Future”), is not like most reveals.

“Captain Planet and the Planeteers” would most likely get labeled as “woke” if it got here out immediately, but it surely’s overarching themes regarding environmentalism have been much-needed on the time and doubtless required higher heeding from these in energy. However the present tackled a wide range of related points, together with being one of many first reveals to deal with the HIV/AIDS disaster, a nonetheless often-misunderstood difficulty within the early ’90s.

In “A Components for Hate,” a younger man, Todd Andrews (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris), will get outed as having HIV/AIDS, inflicting derision from his classmates. This results in a full-on mob lashing out in opposition to Todd’s household, just for everybody to return collectively on the finish to make clear that HIV/AIDS cannot be unfold via informal contact. The episode goals to normalize this sickness and present the way it is not as scary as some nefarious forces would have them imagine. 

Right now, the episode is a reminder of simply how far the world has come. Whereas there’s nonetheless no treatment, remedy is much extra manageable, however there was a degree not too way back the place this sort of messaging was wanted. 

“Static Shock” often noticed the titular electricity-based hero battle all kinds of superpowered villains, however Season 2’s “Jimmy” units its sights on a unique kind of monster: gun violence. The episode facilities on Jimmy, who’s continually bullied and decides to take his aggression out by bringing a gun to high school. 

“Jimmy” got here out in Might 2002, simply three years after the occasions of Columbine left 15 useless (together with the perpetrators) and two dozen extra injured. College shootings have sadly remained an everyday prevalence since that time, so reveals directed towards children and youngsters addressing this epidemic is a tragic necessity. 

The episode does an admirable job highlighting numerous points of youngsters lashing out, similar to a father or mother neglecting to lock up the weapon securely. The framing system sees Virgil, aka Static Shock, in remedy, going over what he may’ve completed in a different way, showcasing how gun violence does not solely affect these immediately shot, which within the episode is Richie, a bystander and one in every of Jimmy’s few precise associates. A villain who can throw fireballs is one factor, however a child who simply wanted some assist is a tragic actuality that society has nonetheless but to really reckon with. 

“Arthur” ended its epic 25-season run in 2022, providing some reveals of what occurs to the primary characters sooner or later. However trying towards the previous, “Arthur” supplied loads of excellent episodes to assist younger children perceive the world higher, together with the scary actuality of when somebody near you receives less-than-ideal medical information. 

“The Nice MacGrady” includes the Lakewood Elementary college students studying that the college prepare dinner, Mrs. MacGrady, has most cancers. College students react in a different way to the information, as is to be anticipated. Francine takes the information laborious, as her grandfather died from most cancers, whereas Muffy does not actually grasp the severity of the state of affairs initially. In the end, the episode reveals the way it’s pure for individuals to take troublesome information in a different way, with everybody simply attempting to make sense of such a dramatic growth. 

“The Nice MacGrady” was co-written by Leah Ryan and impressed by her personal most cancers prognosis. Ryan handed away earlier than the episode made it to air, however she left behind a beautiful reminder of the way it’s okay to not really feel okay when scary issues occur to family members. 

“Braveness the Cowardly Canine” is usually seen as a darkish present for different causes than what’s been talked about on this listing, often that includes horrifically-designed creatures. The Cartoon Community collection often attracts from horror movies like “Jaws” and “The Exorcist,” however “The Masks” episode introduces the present’s younger viewers to the horror of home violence. 

Kitty visits the Bagge farm and begins beating up Braveness, just for it to be revealed her hatred towards canines stems from her buddy (and romantic accomplice, as revealed by collection creator John R. Dilworth) being in an abusive relationship along with her boyfriend, Mad Canine. Kitty’s masks represents the unwillingness to face actuality and her making a false narrative that each canine out there’s worthy of derision. Regardless of this, Braveness needs to assist however rapidly realizes the dire straits Bunny is in when he finds her coated in grime for attempting to get away from him. 

So far as darkish matters in youngsters’s present, it demonstrates how individuals in abusive relationships typically do not have the sources to simply rise up and depart. Fortunately, “The Masks” has its completely satisfied ending with Kitty and Bunny reuniting, simply two lesbians on a prepare with a brighter future forward of them. 

Should you or somebody you realize is coping with home abuse, you possibly can name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can too discover extra data, sources, and assist at their web site.

It is one factor for a children’ present to deal with loss of life. It is one other factor completely for it to indicate how not solely are you going to die in the future, however everybody you realize and love will die, and society itself can stop to exist. Anyway, the collection finale of “Dinosaurs” is right here to let you know all about it. 

“Dinosaurs” ends with FruitCo messing with the surroundings and ushering in an ice age. The local weather will get colder, and the present ends with the Sinclair household huddled collectively, wrapped in parkas, because the household patriarch, Earl, ensures all of them that there is not any manner the dinosaurs may ever go away fully. Happily, younger viewers have been spared watching them expire onscreen, however the message is evident. Dinosaurs will quickly go extinct, and if we’re not cautious, humanity may go the identical manner. 

Whereas an asteroid affect seemingly worn out the dinosaurs in actuality, the episode attracts parallels with trendy considerations surrounding local weather change. The episode could have aired in 1994, however 30 years later, humanity hasn’t heeded its warnings. The Earth has continued getting hotter, with the window rapidly closing on mediating any of its results. It is quite a bit for any child (or grownup for that matter) to soak up. With one thing this heavy getting laid on you, it is comprehensible if you happen to want to look at some “Severance” to chill out a bit of. 

To a passing observer, a lot of youngsters’s tv could come off as crude or odd. A father or mother may even see their child watching one thing with brilliant, flashing colours and surprise what precisely it is doing to their growth. Fact be informed, numerous youngsters’s media is designed to introduce children to essential life classes, like the need of claiming sorry. And even when an episode is about one thing as inconsequential as using an enormous boulder to ship a Krusty Krab pizza, it could actually nonetheless develop into a touchstone in so many lives. 

Youngsters are smarter than adults are generally prepared to present them credit score for. These working in youngsters’s media absolutely perceive that, which is why some children’ reveals often delve into darker topics that will make some surprise if it is actually applicable for somebody who’s not even 10 but. Nonetheless, it is essential for teenagers to at the very least have a baseline information of sure topics in order that they will strategy it with extra nuance later in life. From despair to habit, there is a good probability many individuals’s first publicity to those matters got here from their favourite TV collection.

Darkish matters in youngsters’s reveals are nothing to draw back from. And now that you simply’re an grownup studying /Movie, listed here are a few of episodes in children TV reveals with darkish matters that you will have glossed over earlier in life which have higher thematic resonance than you initially realized. 

“Hey Arnold!” was a surprisingly profound youngsters’s present that noticed the titular Arnold assist the individuals across the metropolis with their issues. In season 5’s “Chocolate Boy,” he assists the character of the identical title. Up up to now, Chocolate Boy was largely used as a gag — a younger child obsessive about chocolate, typically having it smeared throughout his face. However in “Chocolate Boy,” he realizes he has a real drawback after dancing for malted milk balls and scrounging round in a dumpster attempting to get his subsequent candy repair. 

The episode affords a nuanced tackle habit, with Chocolate Boy hitting all-time low earlier than really taking sobriety severely. After hypnosis, Arnold will get to the center of Chocolate Boy’s habit — his nanny leaving him. Habit is a fancy area, however utilizing substances, whether or not it is alcohol or chocolate, is a typical method to make up for a way of abandonment. By the top of the episode, Chocolate Boy’s off chocolate, however he is now consuming tons of of radishes a day, successfully buying and selling one vice for an additional. One may argue consuming radishes on a regular basis is best than chocolate, however buying and selling one habit for an additional is a typical conduct that may really make yet one more vulnerable to relapse. 

That is exactly what occurs right here. Later episodes present Chocolate Boy’s face smeared in chocolate as soon as once more, which ought to’ve been anticipated seeing as between 40% and 60% of addicts relapse sooner or later. 

Should you or anybody you realize wants assist with habit points, assist is offered. Go to the Substance Abuse and Psychological Well being Providers Administration web site or contact SAMHSA’s Nationwide Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).

It is smart for “Lizzie McGuire,” a present a couple of teenage woman going through the trials and tribulations of adolescence, to deal with a social difficulty that impacts far too many younger women: consuming problems. In season 2’s “Internal Magnificence,” Gordo (Adam Lamberg) movies a music video that includes Lizzie (Hilary Duff) and Miranda (Lalaine), when he makes an off-hand comment about how a lot Miranda’s consuming. Miranda begins believing she seems fats in photographs, a lot to the protest of her associates, and he or she stops consuming completely at lunch. It virtually results in her fainting once they observe dancing once more. 

Research recommend a reported 22% of youngsters and adolescents worldwide endure from some degree of disordered consuming, with younger women being significantly susceptible. Regardless of physique picture points generally taking years to resolve, Miranda’s completely superb by the top of the episode. This is probably not stunning to an extent, as TV reveals typically should fall again on the established order, but it surely makes “Internal Magnificence” fall into the camp of “very particular” TV episodes that supply a simple decision for classy points. 

Maybe the episode’s simple resolution foreshadowed what was to return with the deliberate “Lizzie McGuire” reboot, which was reportedly canned for not being as “family-friend” as Disney would’ve preferred. At the very least “Internal Magnificence” reveals Lizzie attempting to be buddy and discuss to Miranda about her issues, exemplifying the significance of associates being prepared to have these robust conversations. 

Should you need assistance with an consuming dysfunction, or know somebody who does, assist is offered. Go to the Nationwide Consuming Issues Affiliation web site or contact NEDA’s Reside Helpline at 1-800-931-2237. You can too obtain 24/7 Disaster Assist through textual content (ship NEDA to 741-741).

“Bluey” could also be for youthful children, but it surely’s simple to see why so many mother and father gravitate towards it. The ending of “The Signal” episode of “Bluey” emphasizes the significance of oldsters being emotionally obtainable for his or her youngsters, and different installments focus on issues like infertility in methods children can comprehend. Season 3’s “The Decider” additionally falls into that camp, the place the Heelers have the household throughout the road be a part of them in watching a rugby sport. Nonetheless, Chucky feels conflicted all through the sport as a result of his mom’s throughout the road, rooting for the opposite crew. He does not know which crew to root for and finds himself actually caught within the center. 

It is not explicitly about divorce and youngster custody, but it surely’s simple to attract a parallel. Adults can (generally inadvertently) put children into the combination of their very own conflicts. The rivalry between Chucky’s mother and father is all in good enjoyable, however Chucky nonetheless looks like he has to select, not desirous to disappoint both father or mother. 

“The Decider” not solely reveals children the way it’s pure to really feel put into the center of grownup conflicts, but it surely additionally reveals mother and father the importance of supporting no matter selection a toddler makes, even when it hurts them personally. 

Turning into a youngster typically means sorting via new, complicated feelings. It may be robust to determine what these feelings imply and even more durable when different persons are insisting they know what they’re greater than you. “As Advised by Ginger” tackled many points preteens face as they work out who they need to be, and nowhere is that extra obvious than in “And She Was Gone.” The episode sees Ginger write a poem a couple of girl related by strings who merely yearns to go away. With strains like, “She did not have companions / No want for earthly issues / Solely needed freedom / From what she felt have been puppet strings,” it is maybe no surprise her trainer and college psychologist fearful about her having despair. 

The poem’s recurring motif of the lady lastly disappearing completely may recommend one thing darker, and whereas it is good to an extent these authority figures needed to ensure Ginger was okay, her declarations of being superb go ignored. Based mostly on what we all know from the character, she most likely is ok (or at the very least not any extra depressed than different preteens). 

There’s one thing much more nuanced happening with “And She Was Gone” than simply being the despair episode of “As Advised by Ginger.” Whereas Ginger could not require long-term remedy for despair, she mentions the way it was good to speak about her emotions. That is an important lesson: sooner or later or one other, everybody feels down and may gain advantage from simply voicing their feelings.

Apologies if you happen to needed to get via immediately with out sobbing uncontrollably, however it is time to discuss concerning the “Mom’s Day” episode of “Rugrats.” Among the best ’90s cartoons often noticed the infants use their imaginations for playtime, however every now and then, it introduced issues crashing again all the way down to actuality. That is the case right here because the tykes make Mom’s Day presents for his or her mothers — apart from Chuckie, who realizes he does not have a mom. In fact, he does, however she handed away sooner or later, and whereas scrounging round a closet, they come upon photographs of her. 

Demise is perhaps the darkest factor for a youngsters’s TV present to deal with, particularly one the place the central characters can barely even stroll but. Nonetheless, it is a pure a part of life, one which impacts individuals of all ages. Chas needs to place the photographs away, however Didi insists that he proceed speaking about her in order that neither he nor Chuckie neglect about her. Simply because somebody has handed away does not imply their recollections should fade, too. 

“Mom’s Day” reveals how youngsters will be confused by loss of life, and even adults aren’t immune. For youths watching, it reveals how even adults do not at all times understand how to answer loss of life, so it is completely okay for them to not both. 

The 2000s featured many technological developments. The web grew to become extra commonplace the place many individuals obtained it for the primary time, and social media started ramping up with websites like Friendster and MySpace. For preteens and youngsters, warnings about not trusting all the things you see on-line. By 2024, that adage appears to have gone unheeded, however “Sister, Sister” at the very least tried to do its half with “Mannequin Tia.”

Tamera (Tamera Mowry) begins speaking with somebody claiming to be a photographer who might help her sister, Tia (Tia Mowry), get well-known. Their mother and father understandably don’t need them assembly up with this man, however Tamera goes anyway, pretending to be Tia. As soon as at his place, Varique (Keith Amos) tries to get her to mannequin a bikini for him. Tamera manages to get out of the state of affairs all proper, however the lesson is evident: Do not belief who you meet on-line, and undoubtedly do not meet up with them in individual.

Stranger hazard has been a factor for many years, however when “Mannequin Tia” got here out in 1997, the web was nonetheless one thing individuals have been getting accustomed to. And it is good for teenagers to grasp find out how to safely navigate it. Now if solely “Sister, Sister” had an episode to show boomers about not believing each information story that comes on their social media feed, we may’ve averted numerous complications within the modern-day. 

“Steven Universe” was praised for tackling themes like nervousness and loss of life, and “Steven Universe Future,” an epilogue collection to the unique one, adopted these up splendidly. In reality, it took issues a step additional by recontextualizing a lot of what occurred within the first present, with /Movie’s evaluate of “Steven Universe Future” praising the way it handles surviving via trauma. No episode handles that extra explicitly than “Rising Pains.” 

The episode sees Steven going via immense bodily modifications, solely to comprehend it is a response to the emotional trauma he endured as a toddler. “Steven Universe” noticed the titular character get attacked by monsters, watch clones of himself get dissolved, and see his associates virtually die. And that is simply the tip of the iceberg. All this stuff are widespread plot factors in action-oriented TV reveals, however “Rising Pains” tackles how badly any a kind of would badly harm somebody’s psyche. Steven endured quite a bit, and trauma can have as a lot of a bodily affect on an individual as a psychological one. 

Loads of individuals grew up watching the likes of “Energy Rangers,” “Ben 10,” and quite a few different collection the place literal youngsters should save the world. That is a heavy duty for anybody, particularly those that cannot even legally vote but. Different reveals do not actually handle the psychological affect continually getting attacked by monsters would have on somebody, however then once more, “Steven Universe” (and by proxy “Steven Universe Future”), is not like most reveals.

“Captain Planet and the Planeteers” would most likely get labeled as “woke” if it got here out immediately, but it surely’s overarching themes regarding environmentalism have been much-needed on the time and doubtless required higher heeding from these in energy. However the present tackled a wide range of related points, together with being one of many first reveals to deal with the HIV/AIDS disaster, a nonetheless often-misunderstood difficulty within the early ’90s.

In “A Components for Hate,” a younger man, Todd Andrews (voiced by Neil Patrick Harris), will get outed as having HIV/AIDS, inflicting derision from his classmates. This results in a full-on mob lashing out in opposition to Todd’s household, just for everybody to return collectively on the finish to make clear that HIV/AIDS cannot be unfold via informal contact. The episode goals to normalize this sickness and present the way it is not as scary as some nefarious forces would have them imagine. 

Right now, the episode is a reminder of simply how far the world has come. Whereas there’s nonetheless no treatment, remedy is much extra manageable, however there was a degree not too way back the place this sort of messaging was wanted. 

“Static Shock” often noticed the titular electricity-based hero battle all kinds of superpowered villains, however Season 2’s “Jimmy” units its sights on a unique kind of monster: gun violence. The episode facilities on Jimmy, who’s continually bullied and decides to take his aggression out by bringing a gun to high school. 

“Jimmy” got here out in Might 2002, simply three years after the occasions of Columbine left 15 useless (together with the perpetrators) and two dozen extra injured. College shootings have sadly remained an everyday prevalence since that time, so reveals directed towards children and youngsters addressing this epidemic is a tragic necessity. 

The episode does an admirable job highlighting numerous points of youngsters lashing out, similar to a father or mother neglecting to lock up the weapon securely. The framing system sees Virgil, aka Static Shock, in remedy, going over what he may’ve completed in a different way, showcasing how gun violence does not solely affect these immediately shot, which within the episode is Richie, a bystander and one in every of Jimmy’s few precise associates. A villain who can throw fireballs is one factor, however a child who simply wanted some assist is a tragic actuality that society has nonetheless but to really reckon with. 

“Arthur” ended its epic 25-season run in 2022, providing some reveals of what occurs to the primary characters sooner or later. However trying towards the previous, “Arthur” supplied loads of excellent episodes to assist younger children perceive the world higher, together with the scary actuality of when somebody near you receives less-than-ideal medical information. 

“The Nice MacGrady” includes the Lakewood Elementary college students studying that the college prepare dinner, Mrs. MacGrady, has most cancers. College students react in a different way to the information, as is to be anticipated. Francine takes the information laborious, as her grandfather died from most cancers, whereas Muffy does not actually grasp the severity of the state of affairs initially. In the end, the episode reveals the way it’s pure for individuals to take troublesome information in a different way, with everybody simply attempting to make sense of such a dramatic growth. 

“The Nice MacGrady” was co-written by Leah Ryan and impressed by her personal most cancers prognosis. Ryan handed away earlier than the episode made it to air, however she left behind a beautiful reminder of the way it’s okay to not really feel okay when scary issues occur to family members. 

“Braveness the Cowardly Canine” is usually seen as a darkish present for different causes than what’s been talked about on this listing, often that includes horrifically-designed creatures. The Cartoon Community collection often attracts from horror movies like “Jaws” and “The Exorcist,” however “The Masks” episode introduces the present’s younger viewers to the horror of home violence. 

Kitty visits the Bagge farm and begins beating up Braveness, just for it to be revealed her hatred towards canines stems from her buddy (and romantic accomplice, as revealed by collection creator John R. Dilworth) being in an abusive relationship along with her boyfriend, Mad Canine. Kitty’s masks represents the unwillingness to face actuality and her making a false narrative that each canine out there’s worthy of derision. Regardless of this, Braveness needs to assist however rapidly realizes the dire straits Bunny is in when he finds her coated in grime for attempting to get away from him. 

So far as darkish matters in youngsters’s present, it demonstrates how individuals in abusive relationships typically do not have the sources to simply rise up and depart. Fortunately, “The Masks” has its completely satisfied ending with Kitty and Bunny reuniting, simply two lesbians on a prepare with a brighter future forward of them. 

Should you or somebody you realize is coping with home abuse, you possibly can name the Nationwide Home Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can too discover extra data, sources, and assist at their web site.

It is one factor for a children’ present to deal with loss of life. It is one other factor completely for it to indicate how not solely are you going to die in the future, however everybody you realize and love will die, and society itself can stop to exist. Anyway, the collection finale of “Dinosaurs” is right here to let you know all about it. 

“Dinosaurs” ends with FruitCo messing with the surroundings and ushering in an ice age. The local weather will get colder, and the present ends with the Sinclair household huddled collectively, wrapped in parkas, because the household patriarch, Earl, ensures all of them that there is not any manner the dinosaurs may ever go away fully. Happily, younger viewers have been spared watching them expire onscreen, however the message is evident. Dinosaurs will quickly go extinct, and if we’re not cautious, humanity may go the identical manner. 

Whereas an asteroid affect seemingly worn out the dinosaurs in actuality, the episode attracts parallels with trendy considerations surrounding local weather change. The episode could have aired in 1994, however 30 years later, humanity hasn’t heeded its warnings. The Earth has continued getting hotter, with the window rapidly closing on mediating any of its results. It is quite a bit for any child (or grownup for that matter) to soak up. With one thing this heavy getting laid on you, it is comprehensible if you happen to want to look at some “Severance” to chill out a bit of.