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	activism alerts april 2005

• Demystify Cloth Diapering
• Take Action: Support Bill To Trim the Fat From Public Schools!
• PBS UPDATE! STILL MORE TO DO LOCALLY!
• Scorecard Ranks Lawmakers on How Well They Protect Children
• Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sell-Out Street?

Demystify Cloth Diapering

Sixty years ago, the only diapers were cloth diapers. Better for your baby, your wallet, and the planet, cloth diapers are easier to use and more widely available than ever before. Yet today, relatively few parents diaper with cloth, and many report feeling intimidated by simple lack of familiarity. Don’t let cloth diapering become a dead art! If you are a parent who currently cloth diapers or have cloth diapered in years past, you can help: teach others how easy and practical cloth diapering is, by becoming a mentor.

In honor of the 35th anniversary of Earth Day, the Real Diaper Association (RDA) is kicking of their "Ask Me about Cloth Diapers" campaign. In conjunction with Earth Day Network's “Protect Our Children and Our Future” theme, this campaign will equip you, the expert, with the resources, tips, and tools to educate your local community towards the use of cloth diapers. Download your full resource kit now, or pick and choose from the various advocacy tools available on the RDA website as needed.

Source:
www.realdiaperassociation.org

Take Action: Support Bill To Trim the Fat From Public Schools!

In an October, 2004 activism alert Mothering urged readers to support Senator Ted Kennedy’s “toughest bill yet to ban junk food in schools.”

Last Friday, Senator Kennedy re-introduced the bill, aimed at stopping the sale of junk food and soda pop in public schools nationwide. The bill is called the "Prevention of Childhood Obesity Act" (S. 799), and it has several excellent provisions.  

Most importantly, in schools that receive federal funds, the bill would ban vending machines that sell "foods of poor or minimal nutritional value," including soda pop, some candy, chewing gum, etc. It would provide grants to schools that prohibit advertising and marketing of "foods of poor or minimal nutritional values such as fast foods, soft drinks and candy," or provide food options low in fat, calories and added sugars, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. It would require daily physical activity classes, and would encourage the consumption of water in school and in communities.  

The bill ought to be overwhelmingly popular. According to a Wall Street Journal poll in February, 2005, 83% of Americans "believe public schools need to do a better job of limiting children's access to unhealthy foods like snack foods, sugary soft drinks and fast food."  

Of course, our nation's obesity lobby (our largest food and beverage companies, media conglomerates and advertising agencies) will likely do everything they can to oppose the legislation.  

Please take these two simple steps to get this bill co-sponsored by your US senators:

1) Click here to send emails to your senators in support of the bill. Or if you want to call your senators, the congressional switchboard phone is 202.225.3121.  

2) Forward this email to everyone you know who cares about children, and ask them to take action now.  

Source:
www.commercialalert.org

For more information, read “The Parent's Bill Of Rights: Helping Moms and Dads Fight Commercialism” , originally published in Mothering Magazine issue 116.

PBS UPDATE! STILL MORE TO DO LOCALLY!

Two weeks ago, our activism alert urged you to email the president of PBS in response to their plans to partner with media giant Comcast (and others) in launching a new 24 hour commercial television network aimed at kids (KIDS Sprout). In related news, we learned this week that a number of large PBS affiliate stations have pledged not to air the new network. This represents a decision by these stations to put kids (and parental concerns) before profit. Currently, the stations that will boycott KIDS Sprout include: WGBH in Boston; WETA in Washington, DC; WYCC in Chicago; KETC in St. Louis; Milwaukee Public Television; GPT in Atlanta; KUHT in Houston; KET in Kentucky; WNED in Buffalo; KNME in Albuquerque; OTEA in Oklahoma City; and WITF in Harrisburg. If you are served by one of these stations, please take a moment and contact them to express your support and appreciation for their decision. If your PBS station is not yet on this list, call and urge them to uphold genuinely commercial-free programming for children by rejecting KIDS Sprout. You can find phone numbers for your local station in the yellow pages under television stations.

Source:
http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org

Scorecard Ranks Lawmakers on How Well They Protect Children

The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) Action Council has released its annual nonpartisan rankings of Representatives and Senators based on their votes in Congress in 2004 on legislation affecting the lives of children. Individual members and state delegations in Congress were evaluated.
"At a time when the gap between rich and poor is at its highest point in recorded history, when child poverty rates have increased for three consecutive years, when the infant mortality rate has risen for the first time in 44 years, when the number of uninsured Americans is increasing and the federal deficit is soaring, members of Congress need to make more just and sensible choices that protect, not hurt, children," stated CDF’s president Marian Edelman.

Click here to learn how your state’s elected officials rank.
Based on their ratings, take a moment and contact them with your feedback. Click here and enter your zip code into “Write Elected Officials” for appropriate contact information.

The CDF has been advocating for the lives of children since 1973. In 2001, their comprehensive, widely endorsed, long-term policy vision to truly Leave No Child Behind was introduced to Congress. It is not to be confused with the Bush Administration's single-issue No Child Left Behind Education Act.

Source:
http://www.childrensdefense.org/

Can You Tell Me How To Get To Sell-Out Street?
Last week, the New York Times reported that commercial media giant Comcast is launching a new 24-hour digital cable channel for preschoolers, which will feature Sesame Street characters Elmo and Big Bird - and commercials. The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) has apparently not only given it’s blessing to the venture, it stands to profit: the new Comcast channel will be co-owned by partners including PBS, Sesame Workshop and HIT Entertainment, producer of 'Barney and Friends' and 'Bob the Builder.'

In response, Commercial Alert sent a letter today to PBS, criticizing it for partnering with Comcast in a 24-hour cable channel for children that will carry advertisements.
Take action now: click here to send an email to PBS executive vice president Wayne Godwin, telling him that PBS should not broadcast commercials to children.

Source:
www.commercialalert.org www.commercialalert.org