From Jim Metrock:
Most of the teachers I have talked to across the country are adamantly
opposed to the entire concept of Channel One. (That is why only a minority
of eligible schools have contracts with Channel One.) Most teachers
understand the unethical nature of forcing sales pitches on students
during public school time.
Why would there be ANY teacher who defends the showing of commercials
in their classroom?
Sometimes a teacher has to defend Channel One because it would be
embarrassing to the school administration to say anything else. School
administrators and school boards don’t like to admit they have been
wasting school time (and been fleeced at the same time) for years.
Teachers can be fired by principals. Principals can be fired by superintendents.
We all know the score. I have seen too many schools where a principal
is treated like the "lord" and the teachers are the "serfs." If
the principal defends Channel One, then the teachers are often in lockstep
with him or her. It’s pathetic, but it’s too often reality.
There is, however, another reason that a teacher may support this
TV time in school.
Imagine two identical schools that are in neighboring school districts.
One is Dufus Middle School and the other is Jefferson Middle School.
These schools are mirror-images of each other in every respect except
one: Dufus M.S.has a contract with Channel One. Instead of buying TV
sets, Dufus M.S. will be renting them.
Now let’s forget the waste of tax money at Dufus and the idiotic movie
ads that blare away in their classrooms and the waste of academic time.
Forget that stuff. Let’s just think about the teachers.
The teachers at both schools are paid the same. A novice English teacher
at Dufus is paid the same as a novice English teacher at Jefferson.
A lead teacher in math is compensated the same at both schools.
Even though a Dufus and Jefferson teacher may take home the same amount
of pay for a week’s work, they are not really paid the same. That is
because the Dufus teacher gets a built-in "break" every day
in the form of Channel One News. A Dufus teacher tells the kids to "shut
up and watch the TV." She then has a 12 to 13 minute break from
interacting with her students. Oh yes, life is good.
When a school signs up with Channel One, it gives each teacher a "raise."
If two people are paid $100 each per week but the boss tells one worker
that he can quit an hour earlier than the other each Friday, then they
are not paid the same.
A teacher at Jefferson doesn’t get this hour-a-week break that the
Dufus teacher gets. This adds up to over 30 hours of "break time" for
the Dufus teacher over the school year. It is easy to see why some
teachers will fight to the finish to keep this nonsense in their classrooms.
Now there may be some teachers who come to school early to preview
Channel One News. They may take notes and work the show’s content into
their lesson plan and they may watch every second of the program with
the students and then lead a follow up discussion that puts the content
into context. I have no doubt there are some teachers that do that,
but among the 12,000 schools that have Channel One, you can probably
count those teachers on one hand.
No, most pro-Channel One teachers use the show as an electronic babysitter.
They could care less about the content. They aren’t going to bust their
behinds to do any additional work. They just want the kids to be quiet
and they want to be left alone. These lazy teachers know that getting
rid of the TV show would mean they would have to deal with students
for an extra hour a week and in their minds "who would want to
do that?" Well the teachers at Jefferson would.
Good teachers don’t have time to fool with Channel One. To them, the
interest of Warner Brothers and Hostess Twinkies are not important
enough to waste limited school time.
The Dufus teachers that "luv their TV time" help foster
negative feelings toward public education. These are the same teachers
that love to bring movies to class and they push "Play" on
the VCR and they give themselves a little vacation. "Watch the
TV and be quiet!" The idea of reading the book instead of playing
the VHS movie, never occurs to these teachers. We all have met teachers
like this. They shouldn’t be in a classroom at all.
When a teacher at a school with Channel One News stands up and denounces
the TV show, the public should appreciate that she or he is going to
take a "pay cut" with the elimination of Channel One. The
best teachers won’t care. Integrity isn’t just something they talk
about, they live it. And their students can’t help but model themselves
after these outstanding individuals.
Any time you go to a public meeting and a teacher stands up and praises
Channel One News, you shouldn’t let them off the hook. Don’t let that
teacher sit back down after using her position to plug a private company.
This stuff used to get teachers fired, but now it is too common.
Ask that teacher, in front of the audience, these questions:
Are you aware there is an alternative to Channel One News? If not,
why not? How can you say this is good if you haven’t done your research?
Aren’t these children important enough for your school to have checked
out the competition to Channel One? (CNN Student News) (Obligation’s
position: Schools need neither.)
Do you preview the show each morning? Why not? How can you possibly
put this information into context for the students "on the fly"?
How can you help "deconstruct" the advertising if you see
it at the same time as the students? If you don’t preview, how do you
know it’s appropriate for your class?
Do you watch the show with the students? Do you conduct a follow-up
conversation about the content of that day’s show? If not, why not?
Can you name ten products that you have allowed to be advertised in
your classroom over the last month? If not, why aren’t you paying attend?
Don’t your students deserve an alert teacher who is looking out for
their interests? Did you see the last movie that you allowed advertised
in your classroom? If not, why not?
Did you research these advertised products and give them your personal
approval? Have you ever refused to show Channel One in your class?
Have you ever instructed the students not to buy products that you
allowed to be advertised to them on Channel One? Which ones?
Is watching Channel One the best possible use of that 12 to 13 minutes?
Is there anything you could teach the students during that time that
would have been more beneficial?
The questions are endless. When a public employee (teacher) stands
up and endorses a private vendor’s product (Channel One), especially
when that product has a competitor, that teacher is out-of-bounds.
Don’t let these teachers bully the community into keeping Channel One.
Use the resolutions (English teacher, Social Studies teachers) that
oppose commercials in classrooms and Channel One in particular to counter
these Channel One devotees.
