From Jim Metrock:
The Texas State Board of Education is considering passing a resolution that would urge local school boards to remove Channel One from their schools. Testimony was heard on September 13 but a Channel One-hired lobbyist told the Board that they had insufficient time to prepare a defense. The Board voted to table the vote until November 15. At that time Channel One will be given an opportunity to answer charges made by Obligation and Commercial Alert at Friday’s meeting.
The resolution was introduced by Judy Strickland of Plainview, TX. Mrs. Strickland is a soft-spoken advocate for Texas schoolchildren. She is a conservative who believes in old-fashioned values. She believes that schools should be for education, not marketing.
This resolution is incredibly important. It is not binding on any local school board but it will be a great encouragement for other state boards to pass similar resolutions. When Texas passes the resolution, local school boards across Texas will begin to discuss their Channel One contract. This is the purpose of the resolution. Texas citizens value local control of schools every bit as much as Alabama citizens. Nothing in the resolution takes away from local control. Indeed, schools with Channel One have given up one hour of local control of their school week to the Channel One company.
The resolution helps local school systems understand that Channel One’s contract deserves attention. Many local boards do not even know they have Channel One in their schools much less what is on the TV show.
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Austin lawyer Demetrius McDaniel will attempt to defend Channel One’s exploitation of Texas schoolchildren. |
Mission Impossible – Meet Demetrius McDaniel
With all the money that Channel One makes off Texas schoolchildren, one would think that they would have a battery of attorneys and lobbyists. It became clear on September 13, that Channel One’s governmental affairs staff was asleep at the wheel. The Austin law firm of Akin Gump was quickly hired on Thursday, the 12th, to represent Channel One’s interests at the State Board meeting. Mr. McDaniel has his work cut out for him. He has never had a client like Channel One. When he got up before the Board of Education he said Channel One welcomes the opportunity to counter the outrageous charges that supporters of the resolution had made. Then he was asked if he had ever seen Channel One News. Well, er, no he said he had never seen it. Funny how he knew for sure the comments of others who had seen Channel One for years were so wrong. Mr. McDaniel was told what to do at that meeting. Mr. McDaniel should have stayed in his seat at He didn’t do that. Instead he did what lawyers are paid to do – he talked and his talking has now backed Channel One into a nasty situation. On November 15, in Austin, Texas, the national spotlight will be on whomever Channel One puts at the podium to defend itself against numerous charges backed by print and video evidence. For the first time in over ten years, Channel One will have to answer questions about their conduct. Mr. McDaniel probably wishes he could plea bargain to a lesser offense. Good luck to Demetrius McDaniel trying to defend this commercial exploiter of Texas schoolchildren. |
Below is the resolution that will be voted on in November. This resolution has been carefully checked for truthfulness and is supported by a small warehouse of video tapes. The evidence against Channel One is overwhelming. Obligation urges all members of state boards of education to introduce similar resolutions opposing Channel One. Obligation will go anywhere in the country, at our expense, to make a video presentation to document the content of Channel One.
PROPOSED TEXAS R E S O L U T I O N ON CHANNEL ONE
WHEREAS the nurturing of right values in children is a solemn responsibility, and is perhaps the most important function of any society; and
WHEREAS the Channel One Communications Corporation produces a television program, at least twelve minutes in length, shown to Texas schoolchildren each school day, containing two minutes of commercials along with additional advertisements, such as movie stars and music groups guest- hosting and promoting their latest movie, or rock or rap CD; and
WHEREAS Channel One is a vehicle for advertisers to circumvent parents and target their children as a captive audience with advertisements for products and services of which parents may not approve; and
WHEREAS it is not appropriate for schools to promote violent entertainment because of potential for inciting violence at or away from school and Channel One has advertised violent movies to Texas schoolchildren; and
WHEREAS American children are suffering from an epidemic of childhood obesity and soaring levels of Type 2 diabetes; and
WHEREAS Channel One has advertised to Texas schoolchildren a parade of high-sugar junk food and soft drinks, including Hostess Twinkies, Pepsi, Mountain Dew, M&M’s, and Snickers bars; and
WHEREAS it is unacceptable for schools to advertise entertainment that promotes drugs or drug usage; and
WHEREAS Channel One has promoted to Texas schoolchildren a movie called “Dude, Where’s My Car?” that glorifies the drug use of two marijuana-smoking teenagers; and
WHEREAS the Texas public schools do not exist to deliver a captive audience of impressionable children to those who wish to use children for commercial ends; and
WHEREAS the purpose of commercial advertising is to generate wants and stir the desires of consumers, and it is wrong to use taxpayer-funded public school classrooms to compel children to watch the sophisticated psychological manipulations of modern advertising; and
WHEREAS Channel One’s television commercials subvert critical thinking and instead seek to create emotional responses in children to purchase products; and
WHEREAS the Texas public schools should promote reading, not passive viewing of television; and
WHEREAS schools that allow products to be advertised in the classroom are implicitly endorsing the products, when these products and values are harmful, this erodes the moral authority of parents, schools, teachers, and the entire Texas public school system; and
WHEREAS Channel One programming is controlled by Channel One and it is difficult for parents to preview the program for objectionable content in order to exercise their option to exempt their children under Texas Education Code (TEC), §26.0l0, Exemption From Instruction*; and
WHEREAS Channel One impedes the attainment of the objectives of public education in TEC, §4.001(b), Public Education Mission and Objectives, Objective 2, because it wastes school time by showing ads to schoolchildren, and Objective 4, because it shows inappropriate materials to schoolchildren, such as sexually suggestive ads and ads for sexually suggestive entertainment; and
WHEREAS use of Channel One contradicts the spirit of TEC §25.083, School Day Interruptions, which requires districts to regulate and limit nonacademic interruptions; and
WHEREAS Channel One wastes taxpayer money because it consumes one hour each week of precious taxpayer-funded school time and one week’s worth of instructional time each school year, which undermines public support for public education; and
WHEREAS Channel One has violated some of its contracts with Texas school boards by exceeding the twelve-minute contractual limit for duration of the show, and may have exceeded the two-minute limit for commercial time by incorporating additional advertisements and sponsorships in the editorial portion of the show, such as the Cingular Question of the Day and the Gatorade Play of the Week; and that these contractual violations waste additional taxpayer money and class time; and
WHEREAS there are many other sources of civics and current events curriculum easily available to schools that are free from the negative aspects of Channel One; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education strongly encourages each Texas school district to discontinue the showing of Channel One to shield students from its commercial influences and to provide students with additional school time for learning; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the State Board of Education send a copy of this resolution to every Texas school district and the Texas PTA.
