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May
2008 News
Stop the Marketing PG-13
Movies to Preschoolers
Our campaign to stop the marketing of violent PG-13 movies to
preschoolers is gathering momentum. More than 1,800 of you have
written the Motion Picture Association of America to urge them
to develop a policy "to ensure that PG -13 movies are marketed
in a manner consistent with their rating" and the campaign has
garnered significant media attention as well.
Unfortunately, it appears that the MPAA is choosing not to act
on the Federal Trade Commission's recommendation to adopt clear
marketing guidelines for PG-13 movies and sees no problem in
marketing these films - even those rated PG-13 for violence - to
children as young as three. On May 16, the MPAA sent us a
letter asking us to end our campaign. The very next day, ads
for the PG-13 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal
Skull, as well as Indiana Jones Lunchables Frosted Flakes,
and Burger King toy giveaways flooded children's television.
With scores of cross-promotions aimed at young children planned for
the upcoming violent PG-13 movies The Incredible Hulk and
The Dark Knight, it is important that the MPAA hear from
as many parents as possible. So if you haven't already, please
take a moment to urge the MPAA to stop the marketing of violent
PG-13 movies to preschoolers and let friends and family know
about this campaign. If the MPAA continues to be unresponsive,
we'll take our case - and your letters - back to the Federal
Trade Commission and let them know that the MPAA has little
interest in regulating its own members.
The MPAA's letter to CCFC is at:
http://commercialfreechildhood.org/pdf/mpaalettertoccfc.pdf
Our response is available at:
http://commercialfreechildhood.org/pdf/ccfcresponsetompaa.pdf
Tim
Kasser Joins the CCFC Steering Committee
We are happy to
announce that Tim Kasser, Associate
Professor of Psychology at Knox College,
has joined the
CCFC Steering Committee. Tim
is the author of The High Price of
Materialism; co-editor (with CCFC’s Allen Kanner) of
Psychology and Consumer Culture: The Struggle for a Good Life in
a Materialistic World; a long-time informal advisor to CCFC
and a frequent speaker at CCFC summits.. You can learn more
about Tim, his work, and the unique perspective he brings to
CCFC at
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/news/shouldthegov.htm.
Healthy
Media Choices Joins the CCFC Coalition
A warm welcome to the
newest organizational member of CCFC, Healthy Media Choices, a
national nonprofit with offices in New York and Vermont, serves
teachers and parents of children ages zero to eight by providing
tools to create a healthy relationship with media. For more
information about their work, visit
http://www.healthymediachoices.org/.
And for a complete list of CCFC’s organizational members, visit
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/memberorgs.htm.
BusRadio
Expelled from Seminole County
BusRadio, a
controversial new program designed to force kids to listen to
music and ads on their way to and from school, hit a major speed
bump in Seminole County, Florida last week. A committee of
parents and school officials from
recommended that the school district end its trial run with
BusRadio.
The decision is particularly noteworthy because Seminole County
is the only school system that we know of that set up a special
committee to decide whether BusRadio was appropriate for their
students and the committee was clearly not pleased with what
they discovered.
"Bus Radio couldn't agree
they wouldn't play songs from albums that had parental advisory
warnings on them, and that was pretty much a deal-breaker," said
Amy Lockhart, a parent who served on the committee. This
refusal is striking since one of BusRadio’s main selling points
is that they are a clean alternative to the inappropriate
artists played on commercial radio.
Please visit CCFC’s
BusRadio resource page at
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/actions/busradio.htm
for articles and information about BusRadio, including a
just-compiled list of school districts that use the program.
Upcoming Events
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CCFC’s Susan Linn will be making a
number of appearances in the Bay Area in from May 29 – June 5,
including discussions with parent groups, book talks, and a
CCFC house party. For details on these events, please visit
http://commercialfreechildhood.org//events.htm.
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The Action Coalition for Media Education
will hold a one-day summit in Minneapolis on June 5.
Presenters include CCFC’s Josh Golin. The summit is a
pre-conference to the National Conference on Media Reform.
For information, visit
http://www.acmecoalition.org/.
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Media Madness: The Impact of Sex,
Violence, & Commercial Culture on Adults, Children, & Society.:
July 8-11, Wheelock College, Boston. Led by Gail Dines,
author of Pornography: The Production and Consumption
of Inequality, and CCFC’s Diane Levin, author of the
forthcoming So Sexy So Soon, this popular summer
institute will focus on the onslaught of violent, sexist and
commercial images that bombard us daily. Participants will
understand harm caused by this onslaught; build skills to
educate and support children, youth and adults to resist the
dangers; and integrate broad-based media literacy curricula
and activism into classrooms and everyday life. For more
information, visit
http://www.wheelock.edu/professional/prof_institutes_desc.asp.
The Commercialization of Childhood: The Role of Belief
Communities
As part of CCFC’s recent
summit, more than thirty participants in the CCFC summit
attended a networking session titled "The Commercialization
of Childhood: The Role of Belief Communities," an
opportunity for members of theistic and non-theistic communities
to exchange about their work. Here’s a report on the session
and a call for follow-up action from Mary Rothschild of Healthy
Media Choices, who organized and facilitated the session:
There was tremendous energy
and joy in the room. Present were members of the following
communities: Baptist, Buddhist, Episcopal, Ethical Culture,
Jewish, Presbyterian Religious Society of Friends (Quaker),
Roman Catholic, Salvation Army, United Church of Christ, and
United Methodist. Facilitated by Mary Rothschild, the rich
exchange demonstrated the common experience of Belief Community
as a wellspring of nourishment for self and family. There were
also common concerns, such as the ways in which the stereotypes
promoted by popular culture infiltrate deeply spiritual
communities.
There were lively discussions
about intentional diversity in communities, telling family and
community stories as an antidote to the influence of popular
culture and the work various communities are doing. The
communities represented are engaged in a wide range of
activities to counter the harmful effects of commercialization
and sexualization, from testifying before legislatures about
violence in the media to working on sex trafficking.
To join this continuing
conversation (whether or not you attended the summit), please
email:
concernedcommunities@gmail.com.
On DVD: What Would Jesus Buy? Special Offer for CCFC
Members
Produced by 2008 Fred Rogers
Integrity Award winner Morgan Spurlock and directed by Ron
VanAlkemade, this critically acclaimed documentary battles the
harmful practices of Big Box stores in America, rising credit
card debt, and rampant over-consumption – with the help of
activists/performers, the Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop
Shopping. As the media counts down shopping days ‘til
Christmas, the group hits the road to persuade people across the
country to think before they consume and to consider the origins
of the “stuff” they’re buying.
The film combines
outrageous humor with stunning facts to inspire Americans to
become conscious consumers. And CCFC members can save $5 by
ordering online at
http://www.aaadvdstore.com/CCFC.html.
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Newsletter Archives
In this Issue:
-Stop the Marketing PG-13
Movies to Preschoolers
-Tim
Kasser Joins the CCFC Steering Committee
-Healthy
Media Choices Joins the CCFC Coalition
-BusRadio
Expelled from Seminole County
-Upcoming
Events
-The
Commercialization of Childhood: The Role of Belief Communities
-On
DVD: What Would Jesus Buy? Special Offer for CCFC Members |
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