Site of the Week Archive:
Great links to 4+ years of
media literacy education-related Sites of the Week

Kids & Media

Our children live in mediated world, and most American children spend more time with electronic screens than they do in conversation with their parents. How do we ensure that our kids feel more connected to us than to their screens? Check out these resource organizations and advocacy groups that help parents, childcare providers and others make better decisions about guiding children's use of media.

Organizations with articles, books, videos, downloadable materials or other resources

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is a "national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration."

Center for Media Literacy This is now a consulting company based on the former non-profit of the same name. The company's website still maintains the CML Reading Room, with excellent articles on family media issues.

Center for Screen-Time Awareness (formerly TV Turn-Off Network). Provides "information so people can live healthier lives in functional families in vibrant communities by taking control of the electronic media in their lives, not allowing it to control them."

Children Now - Media's Impact Program. Children Now "sheds light on media’s impact on children’s health and education, working in the following issue areas to ensure their best interests are served by the nation’s media policies: Media & Health: Advertising to Children; Media Messages About Race, Class & Gender; and TV Ratings; and Media & Education: Use of Media & Technology in Education; Children’s Educational TV; and Media Ownership Consolidation: Impact on Children’s Programming."

Common Sense Media. One of the most comprehensive websites for everyone who cares about children's media issues. Detailed reviews for parents of films, videos, TV. Their mission is "to give parents, educators, and kids a choice and a voice about the media they consume." Sign up for their excellent email newsletter.

The Coalition for Quality Children's Media CQCM (also known as Kids First!), a national not-for-profit organization, is a voluntary collaboration between the media industry, educators and child advocacy organizations. Their Kids First! site has thousands of reviews of films, videos, DVDs, audio recordings, TV shows and CD-ROMs. Sign up for their monthly email.

Fred Rogers Center for Early Learning and Children’s Media at Saint Vincent College "As a national and international resource for addressing emerging issues affecting children from birth to age 5, the Center continues Fred Rogers’s commitment to building bridges between early learning and children’s media."

GetNetWise is a great site, a "public service brought to you by Internet industry corporations and public interest organizations to help ensure that families have safe, constructive, and educational or entertaining online experiences." Features include an Online Safety Guide with tips (grouped by age) for kids and teens, how to identify and report trouble to law enforcement or child advocacy organizations, and links to excellent sites for kids.

International Children's Digital Library - "supports the world's children in becoming effective members of the global community - who exhibit tolerance and respect for diverse cultures, languages and ideas -- by making the best in children's literature available online free of charge. The Foundation pursues its vision by building a digital library of outstanding children's books from around the world."

Kaiser Family Foundation An excellent source of data and ready-to-print Fact Sheets related to health and media. Their data and materials are constantly updated and highly recommended. Many studies and easy-to-read reports on children's use of TV, video and Internet, with specialized studies relatied to sex, violence, media useby children, and more.

MAGIC: Media Activities and Good Ideas by, with and for Children. This extraordinary international website, part of UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund), shows how far America has to go in understanding and dealing with media issues around children. Click on material for children, parents, teachers, governments, media, the private sector; a database of media projects by, with and for children; a discussion group, and much more.

The Parent Coaching Institute . For parents who want a better relationship with their kids and know that media use heavily influences the quality of family communication, the PCI's "Parent Express" ezine regularly has information and tips on the importance of managing screen time for your children's optimal development.

Advocacy Organizations for Children's Media Issues

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is a "national coalition of health care professionals, educators, advocacy groups and concerned parents who counter the harmful effects of marketing to children through action, advocacy, education, research, and collaboration."

Center for Screen-Time Awareness (formerly TV Turn-Off Network). Provides "information so people can live healthier lives in functional families in vibrant communities by taking control of the electronic media in their lives, not allowing it to control them."

Commercial Alert . Founded by Ralph Nader and Gary Ruskin, Commercial Alert's mission is " to keep the commercial culture within its proper sphere, and to prevent it from exploiting children and subverting the higher values of family, community, environmental integrity and democracy." This group does a great job shining the spotlight on egregious corporate attempts to market to children and to commercialize our schools and other public institutions. Sign up for their email alerts.

Free Press. An outstanding advocacy group for media system reform in the U.S., Free Press asks citizens to recognize that carpetbombing our children with advertising for junk foods, inappropriate toys and the values of consumerism over citizenship is not the way to bring up the next generation.

The Lion & Lamb Project [Archival website. The organization is no longer active.] The mission of The Lion & Lamb Project was to stop the marketing of violence to children. "We do this by helping parents, industry and government officials recognize that violence is not child's play – and by galvanizing concerned adults to take action."

TV Turn-Off Network (see Center for Screen-Time Awareness)

Other related organizations

The American Center for Children and Media, "an ‘executive roundtable’ for TV and digital industry leaders – anticipates, analyzes and acts regarding research findings, evolving technologies, social shifts and the volatile marketplace. " This is a media industry group, so when you check out this site, keep in mind two core media literacy concepts: Who produced these messages? What is their purpose?

Children’s Advertising Review Unit is the children's arm of the advertising industry's self-regulation program and evaluates child-directed advertising and promotional material in all media to advance truthfulness, accuracy and consistency with its Self-Regulatory Guidelines for Children's Advertising and relevant laws.

Prix Jeunesse Foundation - "a world-embracing movement for high-quality TV that meets children's unique needs within their culture and as part of a big world. The organization engages producers, telecasters, researchers, educators and young people in hands-on workshops, in-depth 'Suitcase' screenings and other partnerships for excellence."