Stay at Home and Watch TV Week?? (Protect the Environment)
I just discovered this bit of “news.” Disney and its ABC broadcast subsidiary have declared the week of September 21st to be Stay at Home and Watch TV Week! They feel that this would encourage Americans to protect the environment by staying home and conserving gas.
Oh, and that just happens to be the week that Disney and ABC will launch its new series. Coincidence? Screentime.org (organizers of the annual Turnoff Week) thinks not.
Screentime.org is encouraging people to join in its first ever fall Turnoff Week. When? The week of September 21st of course!
Here is a quote from screentime.org:
They [Disney] are making this a playful campaign, highlighting family time and fun, but the reality is ABC and Disney are broadcasters with a host of cable channels (many directed at children) that are instruments to sell advertising. ESPN, a Disney/ABC company, knowing that many of their viewers are children, will not even consider limiting the advertising of beer and other products that are not appropriate for children. So, Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness, with the short lead time we have, is launching a BIG test to see if we can get people to hold our first “September Turnoff,” starting on September 21st. All we ask is that you pick a day, or two or three that week and “turnoff” all the screens.
So, if you have been on the bubble about turning off the TV or other screens in your life, or if you worry sometimes about the effects of networks, big corporations, or advertisers on your children, now may be the time to try going without TV (or other screens) for a day or more.
If you feel REALLY strongly about this and have an opinion to share, screentime.org is holding an international conference call tomorrow (Wednesday, September 17th) at 3PM Eastern Standard Time. Here is more detailed information from the screentime.org website:
The call in numbers are as follows:
Conference Dial-in Number: (269) 320-8000
Participant Access Code: 921805#
All are welcome to join the call, please invite others to join us as well. Ideally, those who can put small groups together would be helpful, but individuals are welcome. There is a great deal to discuss and your comments are important to us.
We hope to speak with you soon!
Everything Else!, marketing and kids, TV, TV-Turnoff Week, unplugging the family
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Center for Screen-Time Awareness, Disney, Screentime.org, TV Turn-Off Week
Themocracy
It seems that as the economy worsens companies are finding more intrusive ways to expose us to advertising. Targeting our kids under the guise of promoting family time seems a little smarmy to me.
I think the “turnoff” sounds like a great idea. I know if I didn’t put tight controls on how much Disney Channel my kids watch they would sit mesmerized in front of the tv all night. It’s a little scary sometimes.
FunFrugalMoms last blog post..Kids in the Kitchen: Educational Cooking
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Thanks for sharing this information! This just fuels my dislike of Disney (which is a shame because I really did love their movies as a child).
We have been tv free for over a year now, since our infant son began noticing the tv, and it was the best decision we ever made!
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This is pretty disgusting. I read on another website abut how Disney Channel is trying to put more focus on attracting boys, because it’s not enough that they already have most tween girls glued to their channel all the time. I realize it’s their job to increase their customer base, but there is something very disturbing about the way they are going about it.
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[...] Check out the most recent post on Unplugyourkids.com about Disney’s great (please note heavy sarcasm here) idea to protect the environment by having us all stay home and just watch TV: www.unplugyourkids.com. [...]
Does Disney think we’re all a bunch of idiots?
How about “Turn Off The TV and Go For A Walk” Week instead? That would save gas too!
Kayriss last blog post..Transitions
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[...] Sarah of Unplug Your Kids has a few choice words about that ! [...]
Just on a personal note, I think turning off the tv will be a great way for me to jump-start my goals! Thanks for the heads up!
Becky@BoysRuleMyLifes last blog post..I Don’t Want to Just Survive
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Well we are now “satellite free” starting this week and we’re just using the antenna and downloaded select shows/movies. I am getting used to it but I miss cooking shows! We’ll be getting even more picky since any shows we want to watch are pay by the episode, will be MUCH cheaper than the satellite but makes you aware of the $ side of it much more. I’m mixed on Disney.
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I blogged about this today, to help get the word out. Thanks for letting us know!
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