Ferri Middle School students film the opening of Channel One News for December 2, 2016. A public school district that feels comfortable with this type of stunt on taxpayer time, probably has more significant problems than this.
Watch for yourself: channel-one-ferri-ms-dec-22016
From official transcript:
Students: We’re Ms. Hunt’s homeroom from N. A. Ferri Middle School in Johnston, Rhode Island, and Channel One News starts right now!
Tom: The running man and the dab? Mind blown. Thanks to Nicholas Ferri Middle School for getting us in gear.
From Jim Metrock:
Students from Ferri Middle School in Rhode Island took time out of their school day to film a promo video for the Channel One “kiddie” marketing company.
I get the sense there must be a lot of leisure time built into the Ferri Middle School school day.
Channel One is a private, for-profit marketing company that features news and feature stories on their heavily commericialized in-school TV show. Why is this public school, funded by Rhode Island taxpayer money, using school time to plug a private business?
Ferri Middle School is doing something else wrong. Look at this screenshot from the school’s handbook:
Uh-oh, looks like the tricksters at the Johnston Public School district are breaching their contract with Channel One. Channel One is a 12-minute TV show. The school can’t fit it into its 7-minute homeroom period, even if they ditch the Pledge of Allegiance (like so many schools are doing) so more Channel One movie commercials could be seen.
Advertisers on the show want the undivided attention of Ferri Middle School students. Channel One earns the bulk of their revenue from these advertisers. If schools like Ferri M.S. cheat on their Channel One contract, then advertisers are being defrauded. The Channel One contract demands the school show its program in its entirety.
4) The School agrees to receive the Channel One News programs from Channel One and to show the entire daily newscast to students enrolled in grades six and above. The School will show Channel One News at a time or times of its choosing, provided that (1) Channel One News must be shown on at least 90% of the days that school is in session and Channel One News is broadcast, (2) Channel One News must be shown when students are present and seated in a homeroom or classroom setting (i.e. not before school, after school or during lunch) and (3) if Channel One News is not shown at a single time, it will be shown in accordance with the viewing schedule as described on the School Agreement Sign Up Form.
Although I detest Channel One’s commercial assault on America’s schoolchildren, I have never advocated that schools breach their Channel One contract. It’s just not necessary. All a school needs to do is END the contract and regain the time lost to this marketing company.
Ferri Middle School is a good example of how low Channel One News has gone. Channel One holds up Ferri Middle School as a loyal “Channel One school” when in reality they barely watch the show at all (unless they watch for their video to be shown).
While I’m talking about cheating and fraud, there is one more ugly thing to mention about this Ferri Middle School promo video. Why does Channel One News want schools to film a promotional “shout out” to open their show? The main reason is to give other schools a feeling that many, many schools are also watching Channel One, when they are not. [Channel One has gone from a high of 12 million viewers to under 5 million.] Other schools that still have Channel One might be encouraged to keep airing Channel One in its entirety every school day because Ferri Middle School in Rhode Island is still doing that when they are doing no such thing.
The Johnston Public Schools School Committee should immediately end Channel One in all its schools.
Matthew Tsonos, principal of Ferri Middle School.
