Q: Did the Southern Baptist Convention, the largest U.S. Protestant denomination, really pass a resolution denouncing Channel One News?
A: It’s true and the unanimous 1999 resolution had a devastating effect on the controversial youth marketing company. The resolution which received national attention helped cause Channel One to lose thousands of schools. At the time of the resolution Channel One claimed a captive audience of 8.1 million students. Today they admit to having only “nearly 5.5 million.”
The resolution is still on the books.
http://www.sbc.net/resolutions/amResolution.asp?ID=1006
WHEREAS, The nurture of children is the most important calling of the family, deserving the support of society; and
WHEREAS, Popular culture increasingly bombards impressionable children with images of sex and violence; and
WHEREAS, Those images of sex and violence are generally communicated through movies, music, video games, and television; and
WHEREAS, Schools have traditionally been a refuge from some of the noxious influences of our culture, especially from the marketing strategies of purveyors of popular culture; and
WHEREAS, State compulsory attendance laws compel children to attend schools; and
WHEREAS, Approximately eight million students, grades 6-12, are forced to watch the Channel One Network, a daily twelve-minute television program, containing advertising targeting those age groups; and
WHEREAS, Channel One advertising includes promotion of junk foods; chat rooms and “Personal Ads” message boards; movies such as Eddie Murphy’s Holy Man and Adam Sandler’s The Water Boy, both of which are age-inappropriate for the students who see these ads; movies with sexually suggestive content such as Never Been Kissed; movies with ultra-violent themes such as The Mummy Quest; television shows like Stephen King’s The Shining and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; sexualized magazines like Seventeen; and has broadcast the music of groups known for the violent and sexually explicit lyrics such as the satanic rock band, Marilyn Manson; and
WHEREAS, The use of the classroom for advertisement confers legitimacy on and is a tacit endorsement of the products, movies, programs and music advertised on Channel One; and
WHEREAS, In most cases Channel One is shown to children without the knowledge or consent of their parents; and
WHEREAS, Channel One consumes one hour per week of schools’ instructional time, the content over which classroom teachers, school administrators, and community leaders have no control.
Be it therefore RESOLVED that we, the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, June 15-16, 1999, find the advertising and commercial use of Channel One unfortunate and an erroneous educational strategy; and
Be it further RESOVED that we urge parents to investigate whether their children’s chools are using Channel One and to seek effective ways to protect their children from the advertising assault of the network; and
Be it further RESOLVED that we call on school administrators and community leaders to work to remove Channel One from their school districts; and
Be it finally RESOLVED that we implore schools that decide to maintain a contract with Channel One to show the program only to children whose parents have given fully informed consent in writing.
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Q&A: Why is Channel One advertising The Vampire Diaries to teens and preteens? (Nov. 7, 2011)
