Obligation

http://www.obligation.org/

Obligation.org is a website that "promotes what helps children, and changes what harms them." They focus on solving issues coming from Channel One News, bus radio, media literacy, milk carton ads, etc. that target children.

Channel One News:
"Channel One News is a 12 minute news program for teens broadcast via satellite to middle schools and high schools across the United States. Channel One is owned by Alloy Media + Marketing and based in New York City.
Channel One News is a marketing company whose main purpose is to get advertising to a captive audience of impressionable schoolchildren. The company loans a school TV equipment in exchange for demanding the school show their daily, 12-minute, hyper-commercial TV show to students. That time equals one lost week of instructional time per year. No educational organization endorses the use of Channel One News. Channel One is disproportionately found in schools in low-income areas.
Channel One News posts their daily, in-classroom TV show on channelone.com. They say they are making it easy for parents to see what their children watch in school. Channel One however deletes at least two minutes from each “parent” version. Both one-minute commercial breaks are removed so parents cannot see what is being advertised. Obligation is committed to posting as many unedited Channel One programs as possible. The videos below have the ads that Channel One News never intended parents and other members of the public from seeing."

Bus Radio:
"This bad idea is now dead. We leave the articles up on our site to discourage any company who thinks advertising on a school bus might be a money maker. BusRadio loaned schools special radios with several safety features in exchange for having the attention of a captive audience of young bus riders. They targeted special radio advertising to various age groups. The youngest riders targeted were kindergarten students. When parents found out about BusRadio parents ended BusRadio."

Media Literacy:
"Media literacy – the ability to critically consume and create media – is an essential skill in today’s world. Media literacy education seeks to give kids and adults greater freedom by empowering them to access, analyze, evaluate and produce media.Media literate youth and adults are better able to understand the complex messages we receive from television, radio, newspapers, magazines, books, billboards, signs, packaging, marketing materials, video games, recorded music, the Internet and other forms of media. They can understand not only the surface content of media messages (the “text”) but also the more important meanings (the “subtext”) hidden beneath the surface. People who are media literate can also create their own media, becoming active participants in our media culture."

Milk Carton Ads:
"Nothing is sacred when it comes to kiddie marketers. There are companies that will sell ad space on a schoolchild’s milk carton. It’s a captive audience and the profit potential is huge. MilkMedia is the main company bringing advertising into the schools via milk cartons.
These ads are aimed at a wide age range. Elementary school students seem to be the main target of MilkMedia’s ad campaigns. School marketing companies always talk about “targeting” children, “targeting” certain youth demographics. Obligation wants to turn the tables on these fat cat, kiddie marketers and we want to “target” them. "

Video: The Dangers of Advertising to Children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuNlrGqXdKw

Important facts from this video:

"Advertising to children is estimated at over $15 billion annually...
That's about 2.5 times more than it was in 1992.
In 1983, they spent $100 million on TV ads to kids. Today it's roughly 150 times that amount.
The average American child today is exposed to an estimated 40,000 TV commercials a year. That's over 100 TV commercials a day.
The APA has recommended restrictions on ads that targets kids under 8, based on them because they are unable to comprehend televised ad messages and are prone to accept advertiser messages as truthful, accurate, and unbiased.
Juggling iPods and instant messaging with TV and cell phones they pack 8.5 hours of media exposure into 6.5 hours each day, seven days a week. This means they spend more time plugged in than they do in a class.
More than 10% of 12 to 13 year old kids admitted to asking their parents more than 50 times for products they have seen advertised.
Many children feel pressure to buy certain products such as clothes and CDs because their friends have them.
27% of ads were junk food.
Effects of all this advertising: Obesity, Emotional well-being, Self-image, Sexual behavior, and Financial self-control.
As children struggle to make sense of mature sexual content, they are robbed of valuable time for age-appropriate developmental tasks, and they may begin to engage in precious sexual behavior."

Did You Know?

1. The average American child is exposed to over 40,000 television commercials a year.
   
2. More than 12 billion dollars is spent a year on advertising towards children under 8.
   
3. Congress forced the Federal Trade Commission to abandon its proposal of limiting advertising directed toward children by threatening the agency's funding.

http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/reports/advertising-children.aspx#