Removing Channel One News from a school

Write or call me and I will tell you how thousands of schools have ended Channel One’s commercial assault on schoolchildren.

jimmetrock@obligation.org

205-822-0080

I will be happy to come to your board and make a presentation at my expense. Ideally, it would be best to invite Obligation AND Channel One to your boardroom, so both sides can field questions.

 

—-

Welcome School Board member.

This page was originally intended for parents who wanted Channel One’s classroom commercials removed from their school.

In my experience helping hundreds of communities remove Channel One, I found that principals and superintendents became defensive when asked to end the showing of Channel One News.  They didn’t want to admit to the institutionalized waste represented by Channel One’s routine presence on the bell schedule.

It is my hope that a school board member reading this page cares enough to dig a little deeper and will stand up to the those who want to keep the status quo.  Save parents the time and effort they will take to convince you and other board members to remove Channel One from your classrooms.

If your school district still has Channel One, you’re in the minority.  Turn off the classroom commercials and create more academic time for the students in your charge.

 

My name is Jim Metrock president of Obligation.  I have been researching and reporting on Channel One News since 1996.  My research has led to articles in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, and other major newspapers.

You have found out that your local school is showing Channel One News, and you want it gone. This page can help you achieve that worthwhile goal. Obligation has been a significant factor in Channel One being removed from thousands of secondary schools.

You can easily make your school Channel One-free.  There is no need for students in your community to watch one more Hollywood movie commercial while they sit at their school desks. There is nothing better you can do to improve education in your school than to give students more time to learn. This is a great and noble task you are about to begin.

 

First, do your homework.

Take some time to learn about Channel One News…

Video:  Examples of age-inappropriate content on Channel One News.

PDF: 10 Reason to be glad you never had Channel One News / 2008

See who opposes Channel One: 2006 Letter to Channel One News advertisers

Channel One News sales literature  (If you’re not angry enough to take action yet, these ads, aimed at potential advertisers on Channel One, should do the trick.)

Your first instinct may be to schedule a meeting with your principal or superintendent or school board member, but DON’T.

 

Get parents and others involved, before you go to the school administration.

Don’t go by yourself to complain about Channel One being in your school.  You will be greeted with the old favorite of school administrators: Thank you for your concern, but you are the only person who has ever complained about BLANK. (In this case, Channel One.)  Of course, they haven’t received complaints before because parents don’t know about it. This is between the kiddie marketers at Channel One News and the kids.

When a parent brings up removing Channel One to school administrators, they naturally become defensive. What you are saying to them is, “Hey, you have been wasting school time and hurting students for years. I want you to stop.”  That might not be what you are saying, but that might be what they are hearing.  Unfortunately, since 1996, I have discovered that “saving face” is extremely important to too many principals and local superintendents.  You have to have a group upset about Channel One before you play your hand. Make it difficult for the board to ignore your request.  Concentrate at the board level, not at the principal or superintendent level. There is less face-saving with a school board.  And keep in mind your current board probably has never heard of Channel One. In most school districts, a previous board back in the early 90’s voted to experiment with Channel One and everybody forgot about it… except the students who are compelled to watch it every day.

When you have thirty people to sign a petition or go with you to a school board meeting, make your move.  Get the local press involved.

 

Ask for Channel One to be turned off immediately. If administrators refuse, then ask for it to be turned off until…

a committee, made up of parents and other residents of the community, can review the use of Channel One News in the school district.

Also, a financial analysis of the district’s use of Channel One should be performed and made available to the public.  The district’s financial officer could perform this work, but it would be better to have an outside CPA volunteer do this work.

There is no way Channel One News can pass the financial evaluation test.  When you compare what Channel One is giving your school district to what they are taking from the district, it isn’t even close. Channel One is fleecing your schools.  They are taking so much more than they are giving.

An idea of the true cost of Channel One’s “free deal” –  A Math Exercise For Vestavia Hills Parents

Ask for help.  I will come to your school district and make a presentation to the public or to a school board.  I cover my own expenses.  I am not selling anything. I don’t want to help you get Channel One out just to get something else into your school.  Removing Channel One will give your students up to an extra hour of school time each week. You will be giving your students an extra academic week of school time each year (36 hours).  Think of what an extra week of reading or academic time would do for your child and all students at your school.

I want what you want: more time for education and NO time for marketing.

Feel free to invite me to make a presentation or to simply answer any question you may have. (205-822-0080)

Much Obliged,

Jim Metrock

 

More downloadable resources: The PDF Library   https://obligation.org/pdf-library