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I don't believe it's the job of a kid's-show host to ensure that I never have to explain something awkward to my child. But the connection between a child and a fictional character is intimate, and that can make parents feel vulnerable. So it's probably inevitable, if ludicrous, that now and again some trigger-happy culture warrior blasts Tinky Winky as a gay propagandist, SpongeBob as a radical environmentalist or Dora as an apologist for illegal immigrants. After all, it's the notion that TV can instill ideas in kids--tolerance, cooperation, literacy--that makes us comfortable with sitting them in front of the tube while we make dinner or grab a shower. (Thanks, Elmo!)
Beyond that, we want kids' TV to tell us a story: that our kids' inner worlds are sweet, peaceful and untroubled. They're not, of course. A toddler's mind is a welter of operatic emotion, something that has been dealt with in children's stories from Grimm's fairy tales to Where the Wild Things Are. Kids need to be protected, sure, but it's not as if they never have to tune out adult realities. They live with us.
All of which is why children are the last ones you need to be worried about in a scandal like Elmo's. It doesn't threaten their innocence. It just reminds parents that our kids won't always be kids. Elmo will be back with a replacement voice, and in any event, the kids' relationship is with a frizzy-furred character, not the man pulling the strings. As Elmo says, nothing's gonna bring the kids down. The parents--we're another story.