The ’90s star reveals which storyline she has used to educate her three sons

Melissa Joan Hart attends 90s Con on Sep. 14, 2024 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Photo:  Gerardo Mora/Getty

Melissa Joan Hart says there is one Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode she finds particularly educational for her kids.

“My favorite episode is the pancake episode because I got to dumpster dive. I was craving pancakes and syrup and having hallucinations,” Hart — who played Sabrina Spellman in the 1996-2003 show — said during a Sabrina the Teenage Witch panel at 90s Con in Dayton Beach, Fla., in September.

“It’s the only episode I’ve watched a few times,” Hart, 48, added.

The reason? It’s a lesson to her three sons — Mason, 18, Braydon, 16, and Tucker, 12, whom she shares with husband Mark Wilkerson.

“I show my kids it every time I try to explain addiction. This is why you should never smoke cigarettes,” the actress explained with a laugh.

From left: Caroline Rhea, Beth Broderick and Melissa Joan Hart in 1999 episode of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’.Vivian Zink/ABC via Getty

In the season 3 episode, it’s revealed that no Spellman can resist the taste of pancakes. Sabrina’s aunts Hilda and Zelda (played by Caroline Rhea and Beth Broderick, respectively) inform her about a potential addiction to the breakfast staple. She ignores the warning and takes her first bite — only to think about the tasty treat for the rest of the episode.

In a 2016 interview with Vice, Hart furthered her lesson on addiction, saying drugs do not make someone happy.

“Not in the long run. Absolutely not. I think they are a quick fix and a long-term problem,” the Clarissa Explains It All star said at the time. “There is some stuff in my book concerning some more wild times, but I’m a safe kind of person and always need to feel responsible for myself and others around me. If I had a rebellion, it was a careful one.”

In her 2013 memoir, Melissa Explains It All, Hart detailed her drug use during the ’90s. It included an experiment with ecstasy at the Playboy mansion.

“I was feeling a little shy so I actually ended up rolling with some friends, doing some ecstasy,” she said. “I was so excited. I was so nervous. It was so scary.”

Melissa Joan Hart and her kids (L-R) Tucker, Mason and Braydon in Zambia in 2023.Melissa Joan Hart Instagram

More recently, Hart starred alongside Joey Lawrence in the ABC Family sitcom Melissa & Joey and several Lifetime TV movies. She’s also been raising her three boys.

“They’re getting huge,” she told PEOPLE in April 2022. “My oldest is driving, and it’s really upsetting.”

Earlier this year, Hart shared photos and videos on Instagram of Mason’s high school prom experience — and revealed his date’s witchy connection.

“Prom 2024 is in the books! Mason and his beautiful girlfriend Sabrina (yes that’s her name) had a lovely night celebrating the end of an era! #MasonDatesSabrina,” she captioned the post.