WASHINGTON, D.C. – Cable in the Classroom (CIC), the cable industry's education foundation, and the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), combined forces Monday night to launch the latest milestone in the cable industry's Cable Puts You in Control initiative, debuting for parents a Media Smart Families Workshop in the Dearborn Public Schools Administration Office in Dearborn, MI.
The workshop, which attracted about 100 parents and Michigan Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) members from Dearborn, was the first in a series of similar events being planned for several communities around the country over the course of the next year. Hosted by Comcast, which serves the Dearborn area with cable and broadband service, and the PTSA, the free, one-hour event for parents, caregivers, educators and members of the community was created to help educate families about responsible television viewing, by examining media literacy concepts and discussing parental control technologies. U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) also appeared and participated in last night's event.
The centerpiece of the event was a presentation by Tessa Jolls, a nationally-known expert from the Center for Media Literacy, designed to help parents learn how to use key questions from media literacy concepts to begin conversations about their children's interaction with media. The presentation also featured tips and strategies parents can use right away to start making choices, exercising control and educating their children about media. It concluded with 20 minutes of hands-on demonstrations showing how to use the V-Chip and TV Parental Ratings System, the parental control features of cable set-top boxes, and other parental channel-blocking tools.
The evening also included comments from Dearborn Mayor Michael Guido, Kevin Gardner, Area Vice President, Comcast, and Connie Lyon, President, Dearborn PTSA Council.
The Media Smart Families Workshops are part of Cable Puts You in Control, the cable industry's consumer education initiative designed to highlight the cable industry's commitment to educate families about responsible TV viewing. The initiative, created by CIC and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA), includes a Web site (www.controlyourtv.org), in English and Spanish; Public Service Announcements, which have run on cable systems and cable channels across the country a combined total of more than 2.8 million times through the end of September; and customer communications materials for use by cable companies in their local communities.
The development of the workshops is the result of a decade-long media literacy collaboration among National PTA, CIC, and the cable industry. More information about this partnership, media literacy and parental controls can be found online through Cable in the Classroom (www.ciconline.org), National PTA (www.pta.org), Center for Media Literacy (www.medialit.org), and at the Control Your TV Web site (www.ControlYourTV.org).
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A pioneer in its field, the Center for Media Literacy (CML) is a nonprofit educational organization that provides leadership, public education, professional development and educational resources nationally. Dedicated to promoting and supporting media literacy education as a framework for accessing, analyzing, evaluating and creating media content, CML works to help citizens, especially the young, develop critical thinking and media production skills needed to live fully in the 21st century media culture. The ultimate goal is to make wise choices possible.
National PTA is the largest volunteer child advocacy organization in the United States. A not-for-profit association of parents, educators, students and other citizens active in their schools and communities, PTA is a leader in reminding our nation of its obligations to children. PTA has 6 million members working in 26,000 local chapters in all 50 states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and in the Department of Defense schools in the Pacific and Europe.
CIC represents the cable telecommunications industry's commitment to education -- to improve teaching and learning for children in schools, at home, and in their communities. This is the only industry-wide philanthropic initiative of its kind; since 1989, 8,500 cable companies and 39 cable networks have provided free access to commercial-free, educational cable content and new technologies to 81,000 public and private schools, reaching 78 percent of K-12 students. CIC focuses on five essential elements to ensure quality education in the 21st century: visionary and sensible use of technologies, engagement with rich content, community with other learners, excellent teaching, and the support of parents and other adults.
NCTA is the principal trade association of the cable television industry in the United States. NCTA represents cable operators serving more than 90 percent of the nation's cable television households and more than 250 cable program networks, as well as equipment suppliers and providers of other services to the cable industry.