Dead Bodies Come With No Warning

August 24, 2008

Sixth grade students forced to watch Channel One News see this shocking public service announcement (PSA) on August 22, 2008. Teachers were not given a warning that this spot was going to be shown. This just came on the classroom TV screen and students as young as ten just had to deal with it.
	The children’s point of view, as this video begins, is from the inside of a drawer in a morgue. A man is opening the drawer and kids see a dead body in a body bag.
	The man pulls out the covered body. Surely he is not going to pull the covering away.
	He turns and pulls out another body.
	Children see the man uncover the face of a dead body. He says, "This kid died from using illegal drugs."
	He uncovers the second dead body. The man says, "This kid died from using prescription drugs."
	The man looks at the camera, "Now you tell me which one is more dead?" Great point about the illegal use of prescription drugs. Very powerful. But this PSA is not intended for students just out of elementary school. This is another mistake by Channel One News executives. It is ironic that Channel One News has advertised movies that encouraged young people to abuse prescription drugs. The Loser and The New Guy On any one day, some children are dealing with the death of a parent, grandparent, or someone in their extended family. Some might be having nightmares. It is easy to imagine children cringing at the sight of this video. Channel One News should be more sensitive to the youngest students in its captive audience. When Channel One brags about all the PSAs they run, don’t believe for a moment that they are all well-chosen or that they all are beneficial to all students.