Parents' Guide to Heroes of Zero

Parents need to know that The Heroes of Zero is a six-episode animated web series teaching kids skills and manners for navigating an online world. It highlights the friendship between a young girl called Nena and her neighbor friend Ciro, who's mostly non-verbal. Each of the episodes features a challenge like online bullying, game addiction, internet scams, and other web-based difficulties. The friends use "superpowers" like courage, persistence, and resourcefulness to problem-solve together. An undercurrent of optimism and collaboration run through each episode, despite conflicts that arise between the friend duo and a mean-spirited neighbor named Mads who uses language like, "Your family can't afford anything but trash" and "You're a loser." Nena responds in kind with phrases like, "Mads is trying to take your power away by bullying you and making you afraid." Diversity is represented in age, economic status, gender, and ethnicity, and there's a general feeling of inclusion.