July 21, 2011
From Jim Metrock: On February 13, 1998 Channel One News wrote this article as an entertaining guide on how to write a book report without reading the book. Click on the three PDFs numbered 1, 2 and 3 at the bottom of this 1998 to read Channel One’s advice to kids.
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February 13, 1998 – We were tipped off to this by a teacher in Canada. (Our friends to the north are being plagued with a Channel One clone called YNN.) Channel One published this on their official web site. It attempts to be humorous and at the same time instructional. The problem: You have a book report due tomorrow and you haven’t read the book. A Channel One solution: Watch the movie, say you read the book – cheat.
Channel One’s web site producer, Darren Futa, writes, several times, that you should read the book and that “teachers are smarter than you think.” Yet, Channel One’s message to children is clear and repulsive – If you pick the right movies and do your research, you can get away with cheating. All you have to do is listen to Channel One’s words of advice.
“Cheating isn’t easy — and let’s be honest, you are cheating — so you’re going to have to put a little work into this. Buy the book and skim it … There are a lot of good movies you can pass off as book reports, but sometimes they mess around with names, dates, and places.” Right from Channel One’s web site.
Channel One starts the article with a example of a inexperienced book report cheater. He watched the movie version of “Great Expectations.” Channel One provides a list of things that are wrong with this “dumb” cheater’s book report. A good cheater should have known not to use this movie for a book report.
Channel One’s article lists several movies that kids can depend on for being more true to the book. Kenneth Branagh’s “Hamlet” is one. Channel One issues a warning to students: “This is a four-hour movie, like I said, cheatin’ ain’t easy.”
See for yourself. Click here to read this article. When you go to Channel One’s site, take your time and look around. See the type of movies, bands, and philosophy they are pushing on our children. A Channel One sales leaflet proudly boasts that it is “Shaping a generation’s view of the world.” They are also attempting to change the view schoolchildren have of cheating.
In a August 1997 web site column, another channelone.com producer wrote about cheating. It was entitled “Cheaters Never Prosper”, but the title was phony. Young readers are given the web site addresses of two companies that will sell them term papers. (Cheater.com and ResearchPaper.com)
The author implies to Channel One students that cheating is an option, if you don’t cheat Big. “I’ve never been one for cheating, but I can’t say that in the heat of an exam I haven’t had my eye wander a fraction in moments of desperation.”
Jim Metrock, president of Obligation, says, “It is hard to believe that there are still teachers that tolerate Channel One in their classrooms. Many of them do not know the content of Channel One’s web site that is advertised to their students on the in-school show. Cheating is not an option. This type of irresponsibility on the part of Channel One Network is inexcusable. ”
If the link to the article does not work, use this link to go the home page of Channel One Network.
