The world-famous children's television [shown / show] Sesame Street has introduced a new character to highlight the [plight / bright] of homeless children. The educational TV series, which has been [paired / aired] since 1969, is helping to [tackle / tickle] the issue of homelessness via a new character called Lily. She is a 7-year-old girl who was [right / left] homeless after her family lost their apartment. Lily's plight [mirrors / windows] that of over 2.5 million children in the USA [whoever / who] are also homeless. Millions more youngsters around the world are [on / in] the same situation. A Sesame Street spokeswoman, Sherrie Westin, hoped the character Lily would reduce the [stigmatize / stigma] associated with homelessness and allow children to identify with her, "and hopefully feel less [alone / lone] ".
The [iconic / icon] , educational show has a long history of raising awareness of social issues among children. Other [tough / toughly] topics they have addressed include [dealt / dealing] with parents who are in prison, living with autism, and [facing / heading] bullies at school. Ms Westin stressed the importance of reaching [out / in] to children who have no permanent home. She said: "We know children experiencing homelessness are often [catch / caught] up in a devastating [pedal / cycle] of trauma. As well as the daily hardship of being homeless, [those / them] children may suffer due [at / to] poverty, domestic [violence / violent] , or other trauma that caused them to lose their home." She added: "We want homeless children to know that they are not alone."
