Perhaps when watching children’s television shows with your family, you’ve noticed a symbol with an “E/I” in the corner of your screen.  This stands for “Educational/Informative,” and started to show up when the FCC enacted the Children’s Television Act in 1990.  Using research showing that children watch an average of three hours of TV per day, the CTA required programmers to define the type of programs they were airing and to provide a minimum three hours of E/I programming per week between the hours of 7am and 10pm.

Sounds great, right?  But only when it works, which seems not to be the case.  Yesterday in Washington, D.C., a non-profit organization called Children Now released a report of the educational quality in children’s television programming entitled “Educationally/Insufficient? An Analysis of the Availability and Educational Quality of Children’s E/I Programming.” Some of the key findings in the study include:

• 1 in 8 of children’s television shows meet the criteria for “highly educational”
• Only 25% of broadcasters deliver any e/i content during weekdays, instead relegating it to weekends–a practice denounced by the FCC as far back as 1974
• E/I shows aired on commercial (as opposed to public) broadcasts are far more likely to use a high amount of physical aggression as a function of the lesson, regardless of the targeted age group
• Commercial E/I programs dedicate 3% of their content to art, 3% to health/nutrition, and 1% to math
• According to the Annenburg Center Reports, E/I programs judged as highly educational made up 29% of total E/I programs in 1997-1998.  That number dropped to 20% in 2000, and has continued to drop to its current low of 13%

The most troubling part of the report is the last bullet.  One would hope or even expect that as time passes and more research is conducted, the educational quality of E/I programs would improve rather than steadily diminish.  Yes, this is another argument for media literacy, but in this case the lesson is perhaps most heavily applied to parents.  We have stressed the importance of making media a family affair–parents must be involved in their children’s media habits, watching their TV shows and talking to them about what they do online.  It is not safe to assume that your child is learning every time they watch a program with an E/I symbol.  If we as a culture demand higher quality programming and loudly refuse to accept what is currently excused as E/I, the landscape of children’s media can and will change.  The FCC has power, yes, but not as much power as you when it comes to determining what shows are good for your family.

If you have children, you probably already know how difficult it is to find age-appropriate websites that you will be comfortable to let them to visit regularly. Far too many of the children sites out there are nothing more than advertising ploys for kids TV shows and toys.

Woogi World games, activities and adventures teach and promote positive behavior and character development. Woogi World is a social networking site and an online world for children with the goal of training elementary-age children to use the internet safely and to balance that with community service and family time so that children may become good influences in their homes, schools, and communities. Woogi World is also a resource for parents and teachers to use to teach children about Internet safety and some great characteristics, such as leadership, community service, responsibility, health and nutrition and, surprisingly, how to balance being online with being offline.

For many of us, we can condone certain Internet games and activities if we perceive that there is an educational benefit to them. To our children – it’s fun. But to a parent and an educator we want the benefits that we see in activities such as soccer, basketball, baseball and playing house –the all important benefits of exercise and teamwork and letting one’s imagination grow.

Woogi World’s parental interaction feature allows parents to monitor the amount of time their child is online and determine if they want their child to “chat” with other Woogi’s. A parent can also limit the days and amount of time the child can play as well as view the history of the account.

To sum it up, Woogi World offers a safe environment for children to get connected, socialize, and keep up with world around them. To that end, Woogi World launched an “Every Kid Votes” Campaign that allows children to participate in the voting process. Here, children get the opportunity to vote and learn the importance in our nation’s democratic process by involving children in the upcoming election, the Republican and Democratic parties, the candidates, and the candidates’ platforms.

Although my child isn’t learning his ABC’s and 123’s from Woogi World (I’ll save that for our Mommy and PoohBear reading time), he is nevertheless learning valuable skills. So, if you’re looking for an educational, and a fun place for your child on the Internet, go to Woogi World, create your own Woogi and one for your child, and have some fun — especially since Woogi World is absolutely free!

-Ellen Uzonwanne