Lose the TV, gain a brain

All Seattle schools should drop Channel One and relegate it to the bin of tried and failed money-making experiments.

While they are at it, they should take a hard look around the schools and see how much of the children's learning environment has been sold to advertisers.

By its own account, Seattle Schools is no longer in the financial straits that pushed it into the Faustian bargain with Channel One. This is a no-brainer. The money was the only attractive thing about Channel One.

A decade ago, the daily, 12-minute broadcasts seemed like a high-tech bargain. In exchange, schools received free TVs and cable hookup. But the television ads — hawking everything from Nikes to Snickers bars to chewing gum — taught children the wrong lessons.

There shouldn't be any fear the loss of Channel One will deprive students who want to keep up with current events. There is nothing stopping teachers from introducing news items as part of lesson plans.

Nor should schools get nervous that Channel One will take its gear out the door with it. Most of those televisions and VCRs must be ancient by now. Moreover, most schools in the Puget Sound region have Internet capabilities and access to news and other information.

If the district adopts a proposed commercialism policy phasing out Channel One, most advertising on school grounds, including stadiums, would also be banned. Parents have long been uncomfortable with so much advertising in schools.

When School Board members take up the issue today, they shouldn't agonize long. Its time for Channel One and perhaps some other mass-marketing advertising to sign off.