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It’s especially easy to get wrapped up in screen time during the winter, when it’s harder to play outside and the days are shorter. However, thanks to a new resource from Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood, families have a new resource available to them that reminds us why it’s so important to engage in screen-free playtime in the first place. Geared towards parents, educators, and anyone else who cares about young children, the free (and printable!) pamphlet shares facts and simple suggestions for creating a happy and educational screen-free childhood.
Facing the Screen Dilemma Separates Hype From What Children Really Need Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood: Smart boards. Smartphones. Tablets. E-books, apps and more. The rapid influx of new screen devices and software poses a special challenge for the early childhood community. A unique offering from Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), the Alliance for Childhood, and Teachers Resisting Unhealthy Children’s Entertainment (TRUCE) provides help and support for childhood educators grappling with… Read More
“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.” – The Lorax by Dr. Seuss The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood writes: The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has launched a campaign to “Save the Lorax!” from an onslaught of corporate cross-promotions. For more than forty years, Dr. Seuss’s classic book, The Lorax, has been a clarion call for reducing consumption and promoting conservation. … Read More
An Intergenerational Crowd Comes Together for Hilltown Families Community Conversation with Dr. Susan Linn on The Importance of Creative Play in a Commercialized World Jackie MacNeish of Ashfield, MA writes: “On Tuesday night this past week I went to hear Dr. Susan Linn speak of the Importance of Creative Play in a Commercialized World hosted by Hilltown Families at the Meekins Library (Williamsburg, MA). It was fantastic – A topic I’m passionate… Read More
Hilltown Families presents… The Importance of Creative Play in a Commercialized World A Community Conversation with Dr. Susan Linn Tuesday, Nov 15th from 7-9pm Meekins Library • Williamsburg, MA Hilltown Families presents “The Importance of Creative Play in a Commercialized World” with Dr. Susan Linn, author of The Case for Make Believe and Consuming Kids on Tuesday, November 15th from 7-9pm in the Hawks~Hayden Community Room at the Meekins Library, 2 Williams… Read More
Reclaiming Childhood For Our Children From Corporate Marketers The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) invites families in Western Massachusetts to join them for a local screening of the critically-acclaimed film Consuming Kids, an eye-opening account of the pervasive and pernicious effects of advertising on the health and well-being of kids, at the Pepin School Auditorium (4 Park St.) in Easthampton, MA on Wednesday, November 17 at 6:30PM, hosted by the Easthampton… Read More
Parents to Supermarkets: Pull the Plug on In-Store TV Ads The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is demanding that the Food Lion supermarket chain pull the plug on 3GTv, a controversial new marketing scheme that airs commercials on mini-televisions attached to grocery store shelves — right next to the product being advertised. This fall, Food Lion and Automated Media Services will conduct a trial of 3GTv in several of its Bloom supermarkets… Read More
Advocates Urge American Academy of Family Physicians to End Coca -Cola Partnership Things don’t always go better with Coke. That’s why the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has launched a letter-writing campaign urging the American Academy of Family Physicians to end a planned partnership with the Coca-Cola Company. As part of a new AAFP program called the Consumer Alliance, Coke is providing a reported six-figure grant to the AAFP to “educate consumers… Read More
CCFC’s Guide to Commercial-Free Book Fairs Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood writes: Are you tired of all the items for sale at your book fair that aren’t books–such as toys, video games, posters, and fashion accessories? Do you think that school book fairs should promote reading without promoting TV shows and movies? A Commercial-Free Book Fair is the perfect way to: Raise funds for a school in a manner consistent with… Read More
Disney Offers Refunds on Baby Einstein Videos Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood’s ongoing campaign to stop the false and deceptive marketing of baby videos has had an important success. We’ve persuaded the Walt Disney Company to offer a full refund to anyone who purchased a Baby Einstein DVD in the last five years. The refund is only available for a limited time, so please help us spread the word now. Read more… Read More
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood reports: FCC Will Launch Inquiry into Children’s TV More than 2,500 parents signed CCFC’s Father’s Day letter to President Obama urging the President to authorize both the FCC and the FTC to evaluate their current policies to determine whether they meet the needs of twenty-first century families. Last week, the FCC announced an inquiry into its children’s television rules, including inappropriate marketing practices. CCFC applauds the FCC’s proposed inquiry… Read More
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood to Nick and Burger King: SpongeBob and Sexualization Don’t Mix The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) has launched a letter-writing campaign demanding that Nickelodeon and Burger King immediately pull a new, highly sexualized, television ad for SpongeBob SquarePants Kids Meals. The ad, viewable below, features The King singing a remix of Sir Mix-A-Lot’s 1990’s hit song, “Baby Got Back” with the new lyrics, “I like square… Read More
December Updates from Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Montgomery County Pulls the Plug on BusRadio Last Thursday, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) terminated their relationship with BusRadio, the controversial company created to force children to listen to commercialized radio broadcasts on school buses around the country. Their decision came a day after CCFC sent a letter urging MCPS to end the use of BusRadio on their school buses. Montgomery County had been… Read More
CCFC to Toy Marketers: Leave Kids Alone during Economic Crisis; Companies Urged to Target Parents Instead this Holiday Season As families struggle to cope with the global economic crisis, the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is urging major retailers and toy and game manufacturers to suspend holiday marketing aimed at children and to target parents instead. In a letter sent to twenty-four CEO’s, CCFC urged companies not to exacerbate family stress by… Read More
You Did It: Scholastic Expels the Bratz From Schools By CCFC Thanks to you, Scholastic, Inc. will no longer be promoting the highly sexualized Bratz brand in schools. In April, 2007, we launched a letter-writing campaign urging Scholastic to stop promoting Bratz items at their book clubs and book fairs. You flooded Scholastic with emails urging them to stop selling books such as Lil’ Bratz Dancin Divas; Lil’ Bratz Catwalk Cuties; and… Read More
Dear Dr. Bryant,
I am writing to urge the National School Boards Association to disavow its report, “Creating & Connecting: Research and Guidelines on Online Social — And Educational — Networking,” which suggests that schools consider easing their restrictions on the in-school use of social networking sites…
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Asks National School Boards Association to Disavow Report on Social Networking With marketers seeking twenty-four/seven access to children, it is more important than ever that advocates for children maintain their independence from the corporations that seek access to the lucrative kids market. That’s why it is so disappointing that the National School Boards Association partnered with News Corporation (owners of MySpace) and Microsoft (part owner of Facebook)… Read More
Marketing the Sexualization of Young Girls One of the most recent calls for action by the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood has encouraged concerned parents to tell Scholastic to stop distributing Bratz books in schools through their Book Clubs and School Book Fairs. A recent report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls had drawn attention to the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising,… Read More
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