Support the Parents' Bill Of Rights

Wed, 18 Sep 2002 07:19:23 -0700

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September 18, 2002

Dear members and friends,

Commercial Alert today proposed a  “Parents’ Bill of Rights” to help
parents combat the commercial influences that prey upon their children
and that promote products and values of which parents do not approve.

The nine provisions of the Parents’ Bill of Rights help right the
balance between parents and the commercial culture and enable parents to
reduce the role of the latter in their childrens' lives if they so
choose.

This campaign is the first time an organization has set out
comprehensive agenda to protect children from the commercial culture.
Please read the text of the Parents' Bill of Rights, and consider
devoting some of your time to the effort to turn it into law.

The text of the Parents' Bill of Rights is available at
<http://www.commercialalert.org/pbor.pdf>.

Sincerely,

Gary Ruskin
Executive Director
Commercial Alert

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
Please make copies of the Parents’ Bill of Rights, and give or mail them
to your members of Congress, state legislators and candidates. Ask them
to turn the provisions into law. Distribute it at day care centers,
schools, churches, synagogues, coffee shops, grocery stores and other
places where parents gather. Call Tom Adkins at (503) 238-7775 or email
<tom@commercialalert.org> to volunteer today!

The Parent's Bill of Rights follows.

WHEREAS, the nurturing of character and strong values in children is one
of the most important functions of any society;

WHEREAS, the primary responsibility for the upbringing of children
resides in their parents;

WHEREAS, an aggressive commercial culture has invaded the relationship
between parents and children, and has impeded the ability of parents to
guide the upbringing of their own children;

WHEREAS, corporate marketers have sought increasingly to bypass parents,
and speak directly to children in order to tempt them with the most
sophisticated tools that advertising executives, market researchers and
psychologists can devise;

WHEREAS, these marketers tend to glorify materialism, addiction,
hedonism, violence and anti-social behavior, all of which are abhorrent
to most parents;

WHEREAS, parents find themselves locked in constant battle with this
pervasive influence, and are hard pressed to keep the commercial culture
and its degraded values out of their children’s lives;

WHEREAS, the aim of this corporate marketing is to turn children into
agents of corporations in the home, so that they will nag their parents
for the things they see advertised, thus sowing strife, stress and
misery in the family;

WHEREAS, the products advertised generally are ones parents themselves
would not choose for their children: violent and sexually suggestive
entertainment, video games, alcohol, tobacco, gambling and junk food;

WHEREAS, this aggressive commercial influence has contributed to an
epidemic of marketing-related diseases in children, such as obesity,
type 2 diabetes, alcoholism, anorexia and bulimia, while millions will
eventually die from the marketing of tobacco;

WHEREAS, corporations have latched onto the schools and compulsory
school laws as a way to bypass parents and market their products and
values to a captive audience of impressionable and trusting children;

WHEREAS, these corporations ultimately are creatures of state law, and
it is intolerable that they should use the rights and powers so granted
for the purpose of undermining the authority of parents in these ways;

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Congress and the fifty state
legislatures should right the balance between parents and corporations
and restore to parents some measure of control over the commercial
influences on their children, by enacting this Parents’ Bill of Rights,
including,

Leave Children Alone Act.  This act bans television advertising aimed at
children under 12 years of age. (federal)

Child Privacy Act.  This act restores to parents the ability to
safeguard the privacy of their own children.  It gives parents the right
to control any commercial use of personal information concerning their
children, and the right to know precisely how such information is used.
(federal, state)

Children’s Advertising Subsidy Revocation Act.  It is intolerable that
the federal government actually rewards corporations with a big tax
write-off for the money they spend on psychologists, market researchers,
ad agencies, media and the like in their campaigns to instill their
values in our children. This act eliminates all federal subsidies,
deductions and preferences for advertising aimed at children under 12
years of age. (federal)

Advertising to Children Accountability Act.  This act helps parents
affix individual responsibility for attempts to subject their children
to commercial influence.  It requires corporations to disclose who
created each of their advertisements, and who did the market research
for each ad directed at children under 12 years of age. (federal)

Commercial-Free Schools Act.  Corporations have turned the public
schools into advertising free-fire zones.  This act prohibits
corporations from using the schools and compulsory school laws to bypass
parents and pitch their products to impressionable schoolchildren.
(federal, state)

Product Placement Disclosure Act.  This law gives parents more
information with which to monitor the influences that prey upon their
children through the media.  Specifically, it requires corporations to
disclose, on packaging and at the outset, any and all product placements
on television and videos, and in movies, video games and books.  This
prevents advertisers from sneaking ads into media that parents assume to
be ad-free. (federal)

Child Harm Disclosure Act.  Parents have a right to know of any
significant health effects of products they might purchase for their
children. This act creates a legal duty for corporations to publicly
disclose all information suggesting that their product(s) could
substantially harm the health of children.  (federal)

Fairness Doctrine for Parents.  This act provides parents with the
opportunity to talk back to the media and the advertisers.  It makes the
Fairness Doctrine apply to all advertising to children under 12 years of
age, providing parents and community with response time on broadcast TV
and radio for advertising to children. (federal)

Children’s Food Labeling Act.  Parents have a right to information about
the food that corporations push upon their children.  This act requires
fast food restaurant chains to label contents of food, and provide basic
nutritional information about it. (federal)

<-----Parents’ Bill of Rights ends here------->

Commercial Alert's web page on the Parents' Bill of Rights is at
<http://www.commercialalert.org/index.php?category_id=1&subcategory_id=69&article_id=169>.

Commercial Alert's mission is to keep the commercial culture within its
proper sphere, and to prevent it from exploiting children and subverting
the higher values of family, community, environmental integrity and
democracy.

Commercial Alert has more than 1,500 members representing all 50 states
and the District of Columbia. For more information, see our website at
<http://www.commercialalert.org>.

Commercial Alert's materials are distributed via our email list. To
subscribe, go to
<http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/commercial-alert>, or send
a blank message to <subscribe@commercialalert.org>. Subscribers receive
1-2 emails per week.

This note is posted at:
<http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/commercial-alert/2002/000124.html>.

--
Gary Ruskin | gary@commercialalert.org
Commercial Alert | http://www.commercialalert.org/
Congressional Accountability Project |
http://www.congressproject.org/
phone: 503.235.8012 | fax: 503.235.5073

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September 18, 2002
Dear members and friends,
Commercial Alert today proposed a&nbsp; “<a href="http://www.commercialalert.org/pbor.pdf">Parents’
Bill of Rights</a>” to help parents combat the commercial influences that
prey upon their children and that promote products and values of which
parents do not approve.
The nine provisions of the <a href="http://www.commercialalert.org/pbor.pdf">Parents’
Bill of Rights</a> help right the balance between parents and the commercial
culture and enable parents to reduce the role of the latter in their childrens'
lives if they so choose.
This campaign is the first time an organization
has set out comprehensive agenda to protect children from the commercial
culture.&nbsp; Please read the text of the <a href="http://www.commercialalert.org/pbor.pdf">Parents'
Bill of Rights</a>, and consider devoting some of your time to the effort
to turn it into law.
The text of the Parents' Bill of Rights is
available at &lt;<a href="http://www.commercialalert.org/pbor.pdf">http://www.commercialalert.org/pbor.pdf</a>>.
Sincerely,
Gary Ruskin
 Executive Director
 Commercial Alert
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP:
 Please make copies of the Parents’ Bill of
Rights, and give or mail them to your members of Congress, state legislators
and candidates.&nbsp; Ask them to turn the provisions into law.&nbsp; Distribute
it at day care centers, schools, churches, synagogues, coffee shops, grocery
stores and other places where parents gather.&nbsp; Call Tom Adkins at
(503) 238-7775 or email &lt;<a href="mailto:tom@commercialalert.org">tom@commercialalert.org</a>>
to volunteer today!
The Parent's Bill of Rights follows.
WHEREAS, the nurturing of character and strong
values in children is one of the most important functions of any society;
WHEREAS, the primary responsibility for the
upbringing of children resides in their parents;
WHEREAS, an aggressive commercial culture
has invaded the relationship between parents and children, and has impeded
the ability of parents to guide the upbringing of their own children;
WHEREAS, corporate marketers have sought increasingly
to bypass parents, and speak directly to children in order to tempt them
with the most sophisticated tools that advertising executives, market researchers
and psychologists can devise;
WHEREAS, these marketers tend to glorify materialism,
addiction, hedonism, violence and anti-social behavior, all of which are
abhorrent to most parents;
WHEREAS, parents find themselves locked in
constant battle with this pervasive influence, and are hard pressed to
keep the commercial culture and its degraded values out of their children’s
lives;
WHEREAS, the aim of this corporate marketing
is to turn children into agents of corporations in the home, so that they
will nag their parents for the things they see advertised, thus sowing
strife, stress and misery in the family;
WHEREAS, the products advertised generally
are ones parents themselves would not choose for their children: violent
and sexually suggestive entertainment, video games, alcohol, tobacco, gambling
and junk food;
WHEREAS, this aggressive commercial influence
has contributed to an epidemic of marketing-related diseases in children,
such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, alcoholism, anorexia and bulimia, while
millions will eventually die from the marketing of tobacco;
WHEREAS, corporations have latched onto the
schools and compulsory school laws as a way to bypass parents and market
their products and values to a captive audience of impressionable and trusting
children;
WHEREAS, these corporations ultimately are
creatures of state law, and it is intolerable that they should use the
rights and powers so granted for the purpose of undermining the authority
of parents in these ways;
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the U.S. Congress
and the fifty state legislatures should right the balance between parents
and corporations and restore to parents some measure of control over the
commercial influences on their children, by enacting this Parents’ Bill
of Rights, including,
Leave Children Alone Act.&nbsp; This
act bans television advertising aimed at children under 12 years of age.
(federal)
Child Privacy Act.&nbsp; This act restores
to parents the ability to safeguard the privacy of their own children.&nbsp;
It gives parents the right to control any commercial use of personal information
concerning their children, and the right to know precisely how such information
is used. (federal, state)
Children’s Advertising Subsidy Revocation
Act.&nbsp; It is intolerable that the federal government actually rewards
corporations with a big tax write-off for the money they spend on psychologists,
market researchers, ad agencies, media and the like in their campaigns
to instill their values in our children. This act eliminates all federal
subsidies, deductions and preferences for advertising aimed at children
under 12 years of age. (federal)
Advertising to Children Accountability
Act.&nbsp; This act helps parents affix individual responsibility for
attempts to subject their children to commercial influence.&nbsp; It requires
corporations to disclose who created each of their advertisements, and
who did the market research for each ad directed at children under 12 years
of age. (federal)
Commercial-Free Schools Act.&nbsp;
Corporations have turned the public schools into advertising free-fire
zones.&nbsp; This act prohibits corporations from using the schools and
compulsory school laws to bypass parents and pitch their products to impressionable
schoolchildren. (federal, state)
Product Placement Disclosure Act.&nbsp;
This law gives parents more information with which to monitor the influences
that prey upon their children through the media.&nbsp; Specifically, it
requires corporations to disclose, on packaging and at the outset, any
and all product placements on television and videos, and in movies, video
games and books.&nbsp; This prevents advertisers from sneaking ads into
media that parents assume to be ad-free. (federal)
Child Harm Disclosure Act.&nbsp; Parents
have a right to know of any significant health effects of products they
might purchase for their children. This act creates a legal duty for corporations
to publicly disclose all information suggesting that their product(s) could
substantially harm the health of children.&nbsp; (federal)
Fairness Doctrine for Parents.&nbsp;
This act provides parents with the opportunity to talk back to the media
and the advertisers.&nbsp; It makes the Fairness Doctrine apply to all
advertising to children under 12 years of age, providing parents and community
with response time on broadcast TV and radio for advertising to children.
(federal)
Children’s Food Labeling Act.&nbsp;
Parents have a right to information about the food that corporations push
upon their children.&nbsp; This act requires fast food restaurant chains
to label contents of food, and provide basic nutritional information about
it. (federal)
&lt;-----Parents’ Bill of Rights ends here------->
Commercial Alert's web page on the Parents'
Bill of Rights is at &lt;<a href="http://www.commercialalert.org/index.php?category_id=1&subcategory_id=69&article_id=169">http://www.commercialalert.org/index.php?category_id=1&amp;subcategory_id=69&amp;article_id=169</a>>.
Commercial Alert's mission is to keep the
commercial culture within its proper sphere, and to prevent it from exploiting
children and subverting the higher values of family, community, environmental
integrity and democracy.
Commercial Alert has more than 1,500 members
representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia.&nbsp; For more
information, see our website at &lt;<a href="http://www.commercialalert.org">http://www.commercialalert.org</a>>.
Commercial Alert's materials are distributed
via our email list. To subscribe, go to &lt;<a href="http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/commercial-alert">http://lists.essential.org/mailman/listinfo/commercial-alert</a>>,
or send a blank message to &lt;<a href="mailto:subscribe@commercialalert.org">subscribe@commercialalert.org</a>>.&nbsp;
Subscribers receive 1-2 emails per week.
This note is posted at: &lt;<a href="http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/commercial-alert/2002/000124.html">http://lists.essential.org/pipermail/commercial-alert/2002/000124.html</a>>.
 --
 Gary Ruskin | gary@commercialalert.org
 Commercial Alert | <a href="http://www.commercialalert.org/">http://www.commercialalert.org/</a>
 Congressional Accountability Project |
 <a href="http://www.congressproject.org/">http://www.congressproject.org/</a>
 phone: 503.235.8012 | fax: 503.235.5073
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