THE THIRD STEP o `X cr

(OOO C C O ^ \ 2 > S l
THE THIRD STEP
TELEVISION
AS
TEACHER
Next to parents, television is a child's most influential teacher
childrojx^e ted^profbund^Hnfluence^ by the ubiquitous etee&SSi
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s that saturate their environment and shape their world.^Newton
Minow, former Federal Communications Commissioner, described television as
"The most important institution in America. More people learn more from
television each day, each year, each lifetime than from any other source," he
said.' All of television is education; the question is, what are we teaching and
what are we learning?"i
Most children spend more time watching tele\asionJ^an taJkingjvrtii
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their parents, or listening to teachers ^J^itte^-^wcn p^ejont'Lf AsJ^^in
f&tdltAj^)
homess have .TV., Children can't avoid it .and on average, a six-month-old
infant—peering through a crib or lying on the floor—gets a dose of about one
and a half hours of television every day. The time viewing TV gradually
increases to two and a half hours a day by age five.* The typical child,marches
— lac/L, 'X
off to school after packing in more than 4,000 hours of TV time. Add it all up,
our nation's nineteen million preschoolers watch about 14 billion hours of
television every year. The impact television has on school readiness—for better
or for worse—cannot be overstated.
When we
[sked elementary school children what they do after school, most of them said
"watch TV." One child spoke for many when he said that the first thing he does
when he gets home from school is "open the TV and watch it." One student
from Oakland, California, said she sometimes is bored after school: "I watch
TV when there's not enough to
television began with such promise. Not that many years ago, when TV
was first introduced, it was seen as ushering in a new golden age of learning.
In the November 1950 issue of Good Housekeeping, an enthusiastic mother
wrote, "I think television is Mama's best friend, and Kukla, Fran and Ollie are
one cogent reason. . . . Television brings into the home good plays,
competently acted." Further, she reminded readers, there was an inspired TV
teacher by the name of Dr. Ray K. Marshall who had a daily program during
which he explored such subjects as earthquakes, the solar system, and nuclear
fusion. "Seeing what he can accomplish in fifteen minutes proves the great
potential of television in the field of education," she noted.
^ p e a r l y forty years|have passed^ emd unfortunatelyhard
would call the electronic ruDe, Mamas oest iriena./v,,wnen cmiaren
today^instead of finding Kukla, Fran, and Ollie or Dr. Roy Marshall on the solar
system, they see "Phil Donahue," "Oprah Winfrey," "The People's Court," and
f o r f u b ,
enough soap operas t(Tftita laundromat.|l Sure public television still offers
N
fte^Kbor
boool.
"Sesame Street" along with the immortal "Mister Rogers " B u t the problem is
that public broadcasting is living on1 a starvation diet.
Children's shows
that do pop up on the commercial networks Saturday
vvs^hat
mornings. "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" and "Jim Henson's
floiAAuic,
^ ^
ecc«phon/oncid-CreA
ore.
——
Muppet Babies" affr oonsTdefed above-parr for Saturday morning programs,
Both ABC and CBS "are planning^weekenS^ecial^Base^l
as i r k ^
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books to mi tne
12:30-1:00 p.m. slot for fee children who last that long-.' But far more typical
-ae^Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Garfield and Friends," or "Slimer and the
Reed Ghost Busters^jHost of the animal and robot heroes featured in these
programs also can be found on cereal boxes and other commercial items.
According to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, most of the
programs tha^feed children a steady diet of cartoons also inefad^over 200
high-sugar and high-fat junk food commercials.
j
The American Academy of Pediatrics is not particularly happly about
this. Recently, the Academy called for a ban on television food advertisements
aimed at children arguing the fact that young children cannot distinguish
between ads and programs and the fact that ads for high-sugar cereals and
junk food lead to poor nutrition and obesity. .
"5>
Parents are not p M M M F f y happy either. A HarvarcTsuf^^ of parents
^revealed-fl986) that 70 percent felt their children were watching too much
televisior^«d-e^ percent rated the job television is doing in providing the
public with information on children's issues as only "fair" or "poor." Forty
percent believed that television ha^a negative effect onchildren. At the same
time, a quarter of those surveyed said their family life^^'centered arc
TV. -4
while'
:s, the i m p a c t t i M t i ^ ^ i m ^ B f r i g . At Sweden's
Lund University, sociologist Inga SonessorTT^3iK!tc^aten-year study o f ^ f ^ .
m r a m o f televisiorTter^hiFdren. "We found a clear and unmistakable
statistical correlation between excessive television and video viewing on the one
hand and the development of anti-social behavior and emotional problems on
K
the other," she said. Among the report's most surprising conclusions:
Children of well-educated parents are just as likely to suffer as those of less
intellectually advantaged families.
Swedish researchers also found that six-year-olds who watched less than
two hours of television daily were far less likely to develop learning difficulties
or emotional problems as they grew. ^ Conversely, tots who saw two-and-a-half
hours or more of television every day were far more likely to develop such
troubles as they approached adolescence. These were the children who were
more aggressive, more anxious, and had greater problems maintaining
concentration."
Finally, the Swedish team asked teenagers if they'd ever committed a
violent act against another person. Those who had were most frequently
children who had spent lots of time in front of the tube. Sonesson concludes
her study with the significant observation: "What this shows is not that
television viewing automatically leads to violent behavior, but, just as smoking
increases the risk of cancer, television increases the chance of children having
problems. The dangers are not as apparent, perhaps, but they're real all the
same."5
In this country, Weekly Reader found that 57 percent of children believe
what they hear and see on the television screen. Planned Parenthood recently
found, fer-example, that it's even(hard for teenagers to separate TV images
from real life. One-half of teenagers surveyed thought television painted a
realistic picture of sex, including pregnancy and venereal disease.
.
C cweci4 s o u r c e o-e- q u o T f e \
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nJL 1' Daniel AndersonfaX3irUhe4Jnivefsrty~ofMassachusetts analyzed forty
years of research on the imDact television on children. Irrtestimtvny -before
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•
Congress, he declared: "Although there are questions about the degree, there's
no question that television promotes violent behavior. Kids do absorb
messages from television shows, but that doesn't make them good judges of the
messages they're absorbing. Producers don't see their programs as teaching
devices, but that is, in effect, what they are. Right now, they're showing kids a
lot of violent behavior and that's reflected in kids' attitudes and outlooks.
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At its best, television/expand^ horizons
.jy It's even been suggested that moderate
viewing -of one or two hours each day *&-pesittvety linked to thtc reading
achievementajiuiag-yerai^^
And at least one study refefcetTgood TV
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viewing to good conduct. Irr 25 day care centers and three homes in Lucas
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County, Ohio, "Mister Rogers Neighborhood" three or more times every week.
Childr&ft whe were carefully observed by adults^reported that thekr behavior ^
^after viewing "Mister Rogers Neighborhoodywas more cooperative, reported. The children also were more self-confident, and more creative, better
conversationalists, and less aggressive. Children's verbal skills improved and
they developed attitudes about right and wrongs Mr. Rogers, it seemed, was
contributing to the children's readiness to learn.
David Britt, president of the Children's Television Workshop^said in
testimony before a U.S. Senate committee that: "Educational television works.
It reaches children, whether rich or poor, white or of color. "» Psychologist
—David-Anderson {fremwhere? J^idded, "Television can be in fact an
exceptionally effective tool for education. . . . Not only do children try to
understand TV, they learn from it. The evidence is growing . . . that they learn
vocabulary from television, and it is clear that well-produced educational
television indeed educates. Young viewers want to learn from television. In
^ J ^
fact, one of the most common reasons children give for watching TV is that
they feel they learn things.""
I ^Phere are flashes of hope. "Reading Rainbow," one of the most
successful of the public television programs, introduces young readers to a
book while inserting footage about the setting and background of the story. In
the Fall of 1988 PBS aired a series called "Ramona," based on the stories of
award-winning children's author Beverly Clearly. It got rave reviews and a
huge followingiflThat same year WGBH Boston inaugurated a new series of the
best of children's literature from foreign countries, "Long Ago and Far Away^"
live-actor or animated-cartoon formats, hosted by different actors on the
model of "Masterpiece Theatre." Targeted for the five to nine year old audience,
it is a show the whole family can watch. The series of weekly half-hour
programs received wide critical acclaim for sixteen productions which included
"The Pied Piper," "The Wind in the Willows," and Russian folktales. Teachers
deluged WGBH with requests for its published teachers' guide.
"Shining Time Station" has been another-award winner for PBS. Action
For Children's Television described the shows as "basic life lessons gently
taught in an enchanted setting."" Former Beatle Ringo Starr has played the
18-inch conductor on this weekly program set in a railroad station^jPBS will
also offer its local stations two new preschool programs next season. "Barney
and the Backyard Gang" will appear in April 1992. Barney is a great big purple
dinosaur who has adventures in a day care playground and classroom with his
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young friends. p^Xvo Dallas mothers on extended maternity leave created the
first Barney videos when they could not find programs appropriate for their
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young children. Also Shari Lewis' "The Lamb Chop Play-Along" premieres in
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January, 1992. The show is designed to encourage viewers to participate in
the songs, counting, rhyming, and hopping along with Shari and "Lamb Chop."
"Barney and the Backyard Gang" and "The Lamb Chop Play-Along" both
received support from
Corporation for Public Broadcasting^BS Program
Challenge Fund. "Barney" received $2.25 million and "Lambchop" received
$1.08 million. In addition to these grants, CPB has issued a request for the
production of a new daily strip of preschool programming. CPB has $4.5
million earmarked for this new series, which must include at least 65 shows to
tart. The series would be made available through PBS to local stations.
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levision does
iat pdten^al. It can spark curiosity, encouragi
reading, and brings to children, information quickly—taking them on a rocket
sepE^SHltrttruiTIgh hopes
trip to the moon or on a journey to the bottom of the sep5?Still, "th^iTTgh hopes
many had for television have been dashed, and mafly teachers—who worirwtth
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stem
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-ehiMren~cvcry day, conclude that television adds up to a shocking case of child
neglect. One high school teacher who has taught for twenty years wrote^'My
student's today have a hard time formulating sentences on paper and orally
because, I suspect, they watch too much TV." An English teacher in her midthirties^jwj^n-a^ced to comment on the pressures-trfiierjab? zeroed in on the
impact television is having on her students: "I honestly believe," she said, "that
television is going to destroy this country. We are raising a nation of mush
minds. So many of these kids have very little interest in learning! They sit and
watch sex and violence on TV. They think life is a sitcom show with a happy
ending. I really think it's a cancer in this country, a bad cancer."
^
—^ I
Another teache?TirrTommenting on his frustration about TV?^bt4t4his
-way; "I feel I have to tap dance to keep their interest. Just lecturing is a sure
groaner. Students just want to be passive viewers. It's frustrating to have to
be ABC/CBS/NBC when I really want to be P B ^ n d W f t l Q teach at an
allegedly good high school where 75 percent go to college. Imagine what it
must be like elsewhere!"
1
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A third teacher said that today's kids have been raised on movies and
television and think all learning is simply fun and games, "^earning is J pretty
dull stuff when you're used to car chases, machine gun fights, and love scenes.
We have told kids from day one that going to school is a lot of fury ^That if
you're not having fun, then you're not learning. That's a lie! And anyone who
has ever been in school knows that it's a lie. The fact of the matter is, learning
requires work. (Insert Kindergarten teacher quote.)
Television, which occupies so much of young children's time, should
powerful partner in the nation's readiness to learn crusade. But for this to be
accomplished steps must be taken now. And while parents have responsibility
for controlling what their children watch, change must come from within the
television industr^ Q i ^ e 11
But parents can't be there all the time. The industry itself must agree
that it has an ethical and educational obligation to help children prepare to
learn. What would happen if the television industry would decide to join a
decade-long, ready to learn crusade? What would happen if the
regulators—insteady of quarreling over whether we should push ten or twelve
minutes of junk food commercials on children, they would require television to
offer programming, at least occasionally, to enrich the lives of preschool
children. Let's imagine what such a strategy might include.
We recommend, in fact, that all commercial networks might be required
to offer at least one hour of "Ready to Learn" programming for children at an
appropriate time for children every week. This should be increased to five
^
Jiours by 1995. With a typical n e t w o A ^ broadcasting (
) hours weeklyjsjt
much to ask that at least one hour be devoted to the children? /Sseeflri. we
lggest that all the networks be required by the FCC regulation to include a
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one-minute Ready to Learn commercial in every commercial segment of other
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children's programmingMn*-fa&t. Children's Television Act set the limits oi| the
amount of commercials on children's TV to 10 1/2 minutes an hour on
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weekends and 12 minutes an hour weekdays, and established loose guidelines
to encourage more educational programs. This is a step in the right direction.
But while it reduces the bad, it does not advance the good. One kindergarten
teacher asks why advertisers could not offer children "Ready to Learn"
liicenUves-by teaching commercials on health and-readina arrd~h«J4Lto ££t~zd&rT;
with others ^ ^ .
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In lQQO^Congress passedtke Children's Television Act^which requires the lo^fyy
FCC to consider the extent to which a station has "served the educational and
informational needs of children through the licensee's overall programming,
including programming specifically designed to serve such needs." This
legislation further defined "educational television programming for children" as
a program directed at children 16 and younger and "which is designed for the
intellectual development of those children. . . . " Programs for a general
audience that might be viewed by a large number of children are not included
in this definition.
Beyond this, the FCC has been given further power to decide what the
law actually means and how it will be implemented. The-F-eC-sent aul a
~~pf5posaHer-pale=making in NpvrrrThggtte^^
^April 3tating that
-
-
ramp tn a final decision in
nrTra
defin
definesj^educational and instructional
programming" as anything that "furthers the positive development of the child,"
including cognitive, intellectual, emotional, or social needs. But the
Commission did not set a minimum number of hours on the amount of
programming expected. Peggy Charren, President of Action for Children's
Television based in Boston, complained, "It would have been hard for them to
put together something that is weaker on broadcaster's share in educating
children."^
ry-^pM .
When the broadcast industry asked whether 30- and 60-second public
service announcements qualified as educational programming, the FCC said
\
"yes." This was not a good start, according to Charren (?). This means that
potentially the FCC could relicense a station that has merely added one public
service announcement or two during an hour of cartoons. Full-length
programs might not even be required by the FCC to be in compliance with the
^ be I e c c m m ^ n i c Mrt o y\ £
Children's Television Act. "According to Dale Kunkel-fof " k i t will take a
_
^ — • oouct caGft-to set a precedent, u
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Buj^broadcasters are to have complied with the Children's Television Act
C b y October l. iflSE) U e _
app lyi n g f o ^ n e w a ! w h ^ o f
F e b r u a t y 1,
1992, must demonstrate compliance. A few angry parents could block the
"PN-u*O j
relicensing of a local station, ^he FCC should establish a tough precedent
early on and refuseGto} relicense a station that has not increased the amount of
educational programs (rather than PSA'h)'-=notJust pnblte-frenrire
announcements—a»diif they don't, protest by parents is a legitimate response.
Twenty million^is about what it costs the Children's Television Workshop
to produce 65 episodes of "Ghostwriter," the program airing this fall on PBS
about writing for the post-"Sesame Street" crowd. In addition to the production
of the show itself, csst^included^research and outreach. Thus, we estimate
that $20 million for the Endowment is enough to produce one new, quality
program for preschoolers. The money could easily be divided among a different
number of production efforts,
also.
-HI
We cannot forget cable in this process. Nickelodeon}^ the only children's
channel. N But its efforts to be entertaining often overshadow any commitment
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JOs "Yo
to be educationalV Nicke l 0 deon also offers therldicnkros
"You Can't Do That on
Television" where buckets of green slime regularly ooze down on the young
hosts, and "Double Dare," the children's game show where teams compete in
edible jello molds and toss cream pies around.
Still, cable network has become a powerful new communicator in the
- "iO-iO
iteru^rd tpLckc>%C\
Culture—and increasingly it touches children. With 90 channelsrit is possible
to watch weather and sports and sex and news headlines morning noon and
night. Scattered here and there though are wonderful nuggets—mainly for
adults—that are educationally enriching. Two channels—Disney and the
Learning Channel—are of special mention. (Explain)
-Gabfe-TV has allowed channels to ihctts-mQre--specifically..on children and
familips. MifkplnHnnn | n nnhln nhnnnol thnt hillv itcplf
"jupt for kids," and
The Disney Channel-where a subscrfotion-is-re€HJired offer the most-BfegchoQl
Nickelodeon has a two-hour block each day, from 10:00 a.m. to
noon, that features preschool programs. "Eureeka's Castle" starts it off with
puppets, comedy, music and adventure. "Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant
Show" allows viewers to learn along with an elephant during various
adventures. "Fred Penner's Place," a series created by the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation, features Canadian actor Fred Penner. He uses
stories, songs and games to entertain and educate his viewers.
The Disney Channel has a variety of children's series. "I
"Under the
e n pfiorv baiffd ,
Umbrella Tree" addresses everyday problems of preschoolers, such as using the
telephone and doorbell, sharing, and helping. "You and Me Kid" deals with the
parent-child relationship and tries to get both to participate when watching.
Programs based on books, such as Winnie the Pooh. Babar. and Pinocchio.
make up much of Disney's preschool line-up. Like Nickelodeon, Disney offers
very entertaining programs, but watching them is not necessarily going to
t
prepare young children for school. (Insert Amy's Cable in the Classroom)
We propose, therefore, that a^ cable channel be designated the "Ready to
Learn Channel" that would offer, throughout the day programming focused
directly on preschool children. (LET'S ADD PROGRAM IDEAS)
Also, local cable channels have a great potential. The Cable
Communications Act of 1984 allowed municipal governments to require cable
operators to designate channels for public, education, or government use.
These access channels vary in number and function from community to
community. Public access channels air any material presented by citizens.
Cities can review the material if there is too much for the allotted time, but
censorship is strictly forbidden. Some communities have had problems with
the Ku Klux Klan and other groups, using the airwaves as an outlet to express
ideas clearly at odds with community values. But most communities rarely
have such problems. Anyone with the initiative and money to produce a show
is invited to air it on the public channel. Government access channels can be
used also to inform viewers of events and programs within the city or to air city
council meetings. (Give example) • We-recommend-every-comm unity designate
^ongjolita.cable stations as aZEteady-to Learn"-channel that-features parent
ediipaTTmnri id v:rlinnl-rrnriinp«« pr^gr^mming-for children.
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. Education access channels, run by school districts, universities, or even
public libraries, generally serve the public schools. In Philadelphia, two
education access channels were set aside in each of the four franchises within
the city and are run by the school. Even when different cable providers service
different parts of the city, all parts of the city have the same access channels. »
New York state has become the most involved in the state-level regulation of
cable television. The New York State Commission on Cable Television was
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ACCESS, (aeh), August 7, 1991
Use of Access Channels
Municipalities arrange for government, education, and public access
channels to be included in the cable service within their community when they
set-up franchise agreements with cable providers. Government access
channels generally air city council and committee meetings as well as
information about services and events in tha,cityjThe government access
'
UdL^o^fZtZ
channel in Santa Barbara, California,airs the weekly city council meetings — —
Soften six hours long) as well as city planning commission meetings three times
each month and environmental review committee meetings twice each month.
In addition to these basic responsibilities, the channel airs "Santa Barbara City
Scene," featuring various events, city projects, and recreation department
programs. "City Job Line" describes a handful of jobs available through the
city government each week.
cot^Twice each year, the channel also produces thirtyminute documentaries on topics Hke the citic&ncw desalination- projectPublic access channels are available as an outlet for disenfranchised
+00
members of the community, Senior citizens, children, and non-English
speaking citizens are among some of the groups who stand to benefit most
from these channels and their programs. For example, Channel 33 in
Arlington County, Virginia, regularly offers Peruvian news as well as a program
for latch-key children where kids can call in after school for help with their
homework.
Public access chaAnels have become known for their off-the-wall
programs, as well. A high priestess in the Wicca tradition leads her group of
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witches in a weekly half-hour talk show, "Kestryl and Company." The
Arlington, Virginia group hopes to dispel some of the myths about pagaen
religions by discussing their beliefs and rituals as they sit on rugs, eating cakes
and burning inc*ns\
•> Girl Scouts in the Portland, Oregon area have been using their local
access channels for a very different purpose. They can earn an access TV
badge by spending a week with TV producers and creating their own public
service announcements. The Girl Scouts come up with an idea (related to Girl
Scouts projects in some way), write the script, and shoot the announcements
with the help of staff members at the station. "Girl Scout Rap," created by a
group of Girl Scouts with the help of a local musician, recently won an award
for best public service announcement at the Hometown USj£ Festival. The
process is great fun for all involved and it also helps to demystify television for
the girls as well as to show them that they are capable of working with hightech equipment.
established to ensure that "municipalities and the state would benefit from
valuable educational and public services through cable television" and to
ensure that access channels were secured in all franchise agreements within
the state."
But many communities are unable to fund these access channels. When
they are used, local channels vary greatly in what they offer and state
co/m^cfvorv
egulation varies, too. -(EaBampleJ Still, eeHHRttrtrttes can and should be
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/made—using the educational access channels—between the various education
institutions within the community—homes, preschools, public schools,
universities and community colleges. High school students could produce
shows for young children for class or community service credit. fCommunity
'v.
preschools and libraries provide the perfect setting for programs for puppet
^
shows or story hours. Shows might merely consist of tours of local museums
^
or businesses. Best of all, local children could become TV stars on these local
"Ready to Learn" programs and actually learn how television works. In
addition to offering programs for young children, the "Ready to Learn" Channel
could provide parents with information about relevant services in the
community, information about the Children's Health Center, parent support,
• groups, and fun spaces and places to visit with their children.
Channel 8 in East Brunswick, New Jersey is an education access
channel run by the local library. The library has produced a storytime series
consisting of 30 tapes of a community reading program. For all its programs
the channel receives $150,000 each year, cable operators receive a sizeable
chunk, which for a community of East Brunswick's size is a lot. While this
program is not of the highest professional quality, producers tape the storytime
for 30 minutes with varying degrees of success, jthe young children, none
trained actors, become inattentive, but producers claim it is an example of
what communities might do with very little money.
(SPACE)
In the end, we return, once again, to family. Enriching programming is a
critical step that must be taken. But parents still must set the boundaries.
Some families have, in fact, tried to abolish TV altogether and those that did
have the "no-TV experiment" for a month are "enthusiastic," or even "euphoric"
about results. Parents confirmed that, without TV, there was better
communication between children and adults, a closer feeling as a family, more
reading, more interesting conversations, and a more "peaceful" atmosphere.
But in almost all homes TV will remain a member of the family and a parent's
critical viewing with children and some thoughtful pre-selection of certain
programs probably have the greatest potential for increasing the benefits of TV.
-7'/ Therefore, we recommend that every parent accept responsibility to guide their
child's television viewing^
told us thatjaccasionally they do sit in front
i g ^ Children
chir
of the TV with parents in the evening, but there is very little interaction. The
TV messages come and go without critique,
j
In a recent survey of 66 parents of children ages three to eight, only
fifteen percent said they guide their children in selecting television programs,
(cite) Only 38 percent reported discussing the program content with their
children frequently. Most commented about television occasionally in a casual
manner. According to these parents, 76 percent of their children regularly
watch PBS. Sixty-six percent of the parents said they used television "often" as
entertainment for their children, 44 percent as an educational tool, and 22
percent as a "safe distraction," 14 percent as a reward, and 12 percent as a
lead-in to discussion.
One of the most remarkable findings from this survey regarded children's
television program preferences. "These findings suggest that children prefer
PBS over commercial networks, but when children and parent view TV
together, they watch the commercial channels that the parent prefer." (cite)
Ironically, coviewing of parent and child may actually reduce the quality of the
programs children watch.«
Siblings, too, were found to watch television together and influence each
other's program selection. "In general, the presence of older siblings led
children to abandon child-informative programs such as 'Sesame Street' for
cartoons and comedies at a relatively young age," the researchers found. Some
older siblings, on the other hand, continued to watch programs meant for
young-children with their younger brothers and sisters.
In "The TV-Smart Book For Kias,' by Action for Children's Television,
there is a calendar in which kids are encouraged to write in the programs they
want to watch after consulting the TV Guide. The book includes a "TV Report
Card," asking children to evaluate the programs they watch. Questions, such
as, "Does it make sense to look at just any old thi
on TV?" are posed
throughout the calendar. "Dr. Video" lists his qui
cure for TV blahs. The
calendar also includes puzzles and games about television. A guide for parents
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accompanies "The TV-Smart Book For Kids" and poses questions that parents
should answer as they consider home television policies.
In Television: More Than a Baby-Sitter. Barbara Lee and Masha
Kabakow Rudman suggest that parents should encourage children to create
their own television shows. "With a little imagination, they can stretch the
people they know into the bigger-than-life characters who inhabit TV," the
authors promise parents." They suggested (?) children might enjoy predicting
the outcome of television programs and thus become more engaged. During
sports broadcast, children might get a kick out of turning off the volume and
providing their own commentary. Parents might use television programs as
springboards for family discussions about a variety of issues. Further, since
preschoolers now require a special^e urge that The Action for Children's
Television take the lead in developing a "Ready to Learn" Children's Guide
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designating programs of special benefit to preschool families.
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One final thought. A company called "Kidvidz" tries to make up for the
lack of quality programming on television with educational videos for children.
Even the very realistic Peggy Charren of ACT sees some hope in videos. VCRs
are available in more and more homes. (How many) Parents who use videos
aren't limited to what's offered at a given time by broadcasters.
Since most videos are intended for home use and cannot legally be
shown to a large audience, Kidvidz acquires special public performance rights
on its packages for videos that makes it possible for schools, preschools,
libraries, or other public organizations to use the programs with a leader's
guide, and 50 activity books. The whole package is only $35. The use of
activity guides encourages the integration of videos into the curriculum and
makes television as video a more active activity. A lower price allows for more
extensive video collections.
Libraries now have video collections. The American Library Association
has a brochure entitled "Choosing The Best in Children's Video" that lists
exceptional films for families, teens, older children, and younger children. The
brochure also includes tips on how to choose the best videos. The ALA would
make a great ally it chose to recommend "Ready to Learn" Video Libraries in
each public library.
America's "Ready to Learn" crusade simply cannot succeed without the
partnership of TV. Television can, if carefully guarded, be educationally
enriching. But if the nation's children are to grow up well informed and
emotionally secure, they also must be encouraged to turn off TV from time to
time and participate with confidence in the larger world. A parent's critical
viewing with children and thoughtful preselection of programs probably have
the greatest potential for increasing the benefits of TV and assuring that all
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children will come to school ready to learn.
(WORDS: 4,873)