Channel One

[Betty Dawn Hamilton <bhamilt@TENET.EDU>]

Group,

I have no problem with Channel One.  We have had it for 3 or 4 years at
the Middle School here.  This is my first year away from Middle School,
so I'm not sure how it's going now, but the programs I watched when I was
there were good.  The advertisements, which most people object to, are
generally in good taste.  As a matter of fact, some of the first ones put
on by Burger King (I think) were discouraging students from dropping out
of school.  The only way I was aware that it was an advertisement was the
logo down in the lower right hand corner of the screen.  The
advertisement didn't really mention the product.  Others were very much
like what you see on television.

The problem here, I think, is more one of time.  Of course, we did have
those who observed regularly to see if objectionable material was being
shown, but I don't think they ever found anything that they could force
the issue with.  Finding enough time to meet all the needs of all of the
children is a problem, and giving up 15 minutes every day for a whole
year does amount to a good deal of time.  That's our main problem.

Another problem is that the 15 minutes of news replaced the 15 minutes of
"Reading Enrichment."  Both, however, had equal success depending on how
the teacher enforced the rules.  When we had reading enrichment, some
teachers made students read and they read themselves.  The kids got a lot
out of it.  Other teachers disliked reading so they just let the students
talk or do homework.  The same went for the news programs -- those who
saw the benefit required students to watch and then they discussed what
they saw --VERY IMPORTANT.  As with anything, the teachers who saw no use
in it, just left the news on and did other things.

I believe that leadership plays an important role here.  Our middle
school has a new principal, so I'm not sure how the news is working now.
Some of our high school students who watched the news at Middle School
said they miss it.  Of course, you can also have the CNN news that is
broadcast every a.m. about 2:30 (CDT) if you set a tape.  The problem
here is that you have to furnish your own televisions, and we don't have
them in every room.

The nice thing about Channel One was that when we had a technical
problem, I picked up the phone and made an 800 call and they took care of
it at no cost to the district.  Quite frankly, I would love to have the
same set up at high school, but we can't squeeze the 15 minutes required
out of our day.  As far as advertisements, I notice that book covers
advertise as do scoreboards at athletic events other than athletic events
*are* voluntary.

Betty

                            bhamilt@tenet.edu
Betty Hamilton, LRS             .----.
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