The show is called Hero Elementary and it’s on PBS Kids
Main characters [Name- pronouns; ethnicity; superpowers; other info]:
AJ- he/him; African-American; thought projection; autistic and loves to build stuff and wants to be an inventor when he grows up
Lucita- she/her; Latina; flying; afraid of heights and super gentle and sweet
Benny- he/him; White; bubbles; overweight and excitable and clumsy (also a total comic book nerd)
Sara- she/her; East Asian; teleportation and super strength; a shorty and outgoing and confident (usually)
Mr Sparks- he/him; Latino; none; loves science and is a great motivator and also has a thick accent
Each episode has the same basic outline:
Chilling=> Problem=> Attempt to solve problem with superpowers=> Failure=> Reminder to use “superpowers of science”=> Logical plan formulated=> Success!
The theme song promotes inclusivity and the show itself promotes science and acceptance of others’ struggles and differences
Each character has their own personal struggles:
AJ struggles with maintaining healthy coping mechanisms when the world gets crazy
Lucita struggles with her fear of heights sometimes getting in the way of her being able to help her friends
Benny struggles with feeling like he can’t contribute as much to the team as the others and with guilt from feeling like his clumsiness causes problems
Sara struggles with sometimes feeling inferior or like she has to prove herself because she’s short, alternatively she also struggles with thinking she can do everything by herself instead of working as a part of a team
Mr Sparks struggles with having to deal with and control these crazy kids, there is no way you could ever pay someone enough for his job
And I would like to point out that each of these struggles come up repeatedly over the course of the show and the characters overcome them because they all help each other and lift each other up even when they’re each dealing with their own issues. And those issues aren’t brushed to the side, they’re addressed and help overcoming them is offered. Now isn’t that sweet.
I’ll give you a rundown of an episode as an example:
They’re chilling by the water with their hamster and practicing water rescues.
They’re all struggling to catch up to the boat they’re trying to “save”
Lucita is struggling in particular with having to fly high
They leave, but oh no! They accidentally forgot AJ’s backpack!
Benny blames himself for reasons I no longer recall even though Sara and Lucita try to convince him it’s not his fault
Lucita and Benny go back to search for the backpack while Sara stays and tries to distract AJ so he doesn’t find out and freak out
Lucita and Benny fail to find the backpack
AJ finds out and freaks out (I get it, dunno what I’d do without my necklace, losing your grounding object is rough)
They all go back to search for it
They find it floating quickly downriver
They try to catch up to it using superpowers and fail
Reminder time with Mr Sparks
They make a plan to cut it off
Lucita ends up having to catch it as it goes off a waterfall which is really high up and terrifies her
Help in comforting her with her teammates
I mean, it’s a kids show, it’s not particularly deep or thought provoking, but it’s really good for what it is. It’s entertaining for little kids, yes, but it can also be mildly entertaining for slightly older people as well.
Not to mention it teaches kids that they are special and powerful no matter what and that they can be their own superheroes if they want to.
It gives some kids who might not see themselves as superheroes or who might not see themselves often in mainstream media someone to look up to. It gives black, Latino, and East Asian kids a superhero who looks like them. It gives kids with thick Hispanic accents someone who sounds like them. It gives overweight and short kids someone who looks like them. It gives neurodivergent and especially autistic kids someone who thinks differently like them. It shows kids that no matter who you are, you too can be powerful.
The theme song ends with a line that sort of sums it up “We all belong at Hero Elementary” and they mean it.
So many kids shows promote acceptance and diversity and science, but I think that this show in particular does a great job of balancing it and making it leave an impression on the minds of children.
I think kids shows are important, this is what young children are learning, this is how they are being taught to behave. And I think we need more shows like Hero Elementary, teaching kids about acceptance and inclusivity and the power of critical thinking in a way that is entertaining to them.
Thank you for coming to my TED Talk
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