Post-Dispatch on Channel One

[Gary Ruskin]

Commercial Alert				March 28, 2000

Following is an editorial from the March 25 edition of the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch.  It is distributed as a fair use.

CAPTIVE CLASSROOMS 

CHANNEL ONE 

   FOR cash-strapped classrooms and struggling teachers, the deal that
Channel One struck with 400 public and private schools in 1990 looked
win-win. The company pledged to put wiring, satellite dishes,
videocassette recorders and television sets into each classroom. In
return, the schools agreed to air a 12-minute broadcast every day that
featured 10 minutes of teen-tailored "news" and two minutes of
advertising. Channel One advertisers enjoyed exclusive access to a
captive audience that has grown to more than 8 million students
nationwide. And schools enjoyed valuable equipment for free. 

   Well, almost free. From the beginning, critics have warned that this
deal has a hidden expense. A growing tide of critics from all ends of
the political spectrum say the costs of Channel One -- to our children,
our schools and our culture -- are too high. 

   Last year, Phyllis Schlafly joined Ralph Nader to denounce Channel
One at a Senate hearing. This month, a coalition of liberals and
conservatives launched a letter campaign to urge governors and Congress
to push Channel One out of public schools. 

   The most obvious argument against Channel One is lost instruction
time. Twelve minutes of viewing time each day may not sound like much,
but an hour a week and three dozen hours a year is a high price to pay
for a few new television sets. Based on Missouri's average instructional
cost, that adds up to more than $ 2,000 worth of lost time -- more when
local taxes are figured in -- for a class of 30. Missouri says schools
are supposed to add to the school day if they broadcast Channel One
during class, but state officials do not monitor them to make sure that
happens. 

   More troubling than the practical pitfalls of Channel One -- and
similar corporate forays into public education, from cola deals to
corporate sponsorships -- are the philosophical problems. Unlike the
textbooks and teachers that educators, parents and politicians
scrutinize so closely, these broadcasts come into about 12,000 schools
unfiltered and unexamined. 

   Channel One force feeds middle and high school students nearly six
hours of advertisements each school year. The station's commercials --
for everything from cosmetics to colas -- take aim squarely at
teen-agers, selling them on the promise that popularity and perpetual
happiness lie only one purchase away. Channel One is not the only
vehicle for rampant consumerism and shallow values targeted at
teen-agers. But school isn't the place for consumerism. 

   Some critics have successfully purged their schools of Channel One.
New York state, for instance, has banned the broadcasts from public
schools. But the company boasts a 99 percent renewal rate on its
contracts with schools, and many parents do not even know how their
children are spending their class time. 

   Do we really want to reinforce the materialistic and superficial
messages that already inundate our youth? Do we really want to tempt
teachers to substitute a generic, commercial-laden broadcast for a
lively classroom discussion about current affairs? Do we really want to
sell access to our classrooms -- and our children -- to the highest
bidder? It's time for educators, legislators and parents to recognize
that the short-term benefits of a few television sets and videocassette
recorders cannot justify the long-term costs of Channel One. 

<-------------editorial ends here------------>

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO GET CHANNEL ONE OUT OF THE SCHOOLS:				
See Commercial Alert's web page on Channel One
<http://www.essential.org/alert/channel_one/index.html>.

Commercial Alert opposes corporate exploitation of children and the
excesses of commercialism, advertising and marketing.

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PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
-- 
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Gary Ruskin | Commercial Alert 
1611 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite #3A | Washington, DC 20009
Phone: (202) 296-2787 | Fax (202) 833-2406
http://www.essential.org/alert/ | mailto:gary@essential.org
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