New Children's Television Initiative
PTA, NEA, NCWO Announce Unprecedented New Children's Television Initiative
This morning, leading nonprofit organizations representing millions of American parents, teachers, nurses and children announced the formation of the Smart Television Alliance (STA) to promote quality television content for children. STA is being created under the combined leadership of the National Education Association, the nation's largest professional organization with 3.2 million members; National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), the nation's largest volunteer child advocacy association with 5.5 million members; and the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), a coalition of more than 200 organizations representing over ten million women.
"In today's media saturated world, parents and caregivers need quality information from reliable sources that they can use to make smart choices about what is appropriate for their families," said Jan Harp Domene, PTA national president and STA co-chair. "By uniting a diverse group of nationally recognized nonprofit organizations with a shared commitment to improving what kids watch on TV, we will help parents make informed choices about what television programming their families watch. We want to make screen time healthy and educational, gathering the best information from a variety of trusted sources, including children's media experts, educators and parents."
STA will encourage families to use information from trusted sources to identify shows that inform and educate children and to utilize technology to control what is on television and when it is watched. NEA members also will contribute information, as well as offering specific tips from educators for parents to use television as a learning opportunity.
Children's television programming recommendations will come from nonprofit experts including Parent's Choice Foundation, Common Sense Media, Parent's Television Council, member organizations, as well as from parents and caregivers by means of an interactive Web site and Smart News, STA's twice monthly free newsletter.
For more information on STA and to receive Smart News, please visit: www.smarttelevisionalliance.org.
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