Elmo shares mental health help after ‘How is everybody doing’ question goes viral
A new initiative was launched to support children, families and caregivers.
For over five decades, "Sesame Street" has been educating generations with invaluable life lessons and is now continuing to deliver the task with a new initiative through its nonprofit Sesame Workshop.
Earlier this year, Elmo, the beloved character from the TV series, experienced a viral moment on social media after asking a seemingly simple question.
"Elmo is just checking in. How is everybody doing?" the iconic character wrote in a post shared in January on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and on Threads.
The post garnered over 217 million views on X alone, in addition to a flood of emotional responses from users who opened up about their circumstances.
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"Honestly Elmo. I need a hug," one person replied, while another wrote, "I shouldn't have rushed wanting to be an adult. I need a break [,] big guy."
The conversation drove a spotlight on the mental health crisis among adults in the country.
In an interview aired on "Good Morning America" Wednesday, Robin Roberts visited Elmo in his sunny neighborhood to discuss the viral moment.
Elmo told Roberts he was "really surprised" by the reaction from fans in response to his question.
"Some people were feeling very happy but some of them were having a hard time," Elmo said.
During the interview with "GMA," Elmo's friend Dr. Rosemarie Truglio from Sesame Workshop also joined in on the conversation, discussing the topic of mental health among fans.
"We know there's a mental health crisis and it's important for us to express our feelings," she explained. "We're meeting the needs of kids today. We wanted to make sure our stories and resources are there to help children and their circle of care."
Launched on May 1, the initiative by Sesame Workshop offered new emotional wellbeing resources with hands-on strategies aimed for children who feel overwhelmed, though the strategy is also helpful for people of all ages.
One of the techniques involves making a glitter jar. The glitter inside a glitter jar symbolizes how the child's feelings are swirling around inside. As the child watches the glitter settling down, it can have a calming effect on the child.
"Glitter represents all the big feelings we're having inside," Truglio explained. "So it gives us something to focus on as we're taking a deep breath."
"Everybody can make a glitter jar," she added, noting that the public can access the new resources that include animations, guides for parents and caregivers, and more on the nonprofit's website here.
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