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kids, if you’re tired of watching the Youth News Network at school, take note. In Perrysburg, Ohio, siblings David and Carlotta Maurer walked out of their classrooms, refusing to watch school-enforced program Channel One, the U.S. version of force-fed commercial-laced television in schools.
In October, school officials decided to punish the young radicals, who don’t watch TV at home for religious reasons, by sentencing them to spend the day in a juvenile detention centre.
“It’s absolutely ridiculous to punish children for refusing to watch TV in school. It’s draconian and barbaric,” Gary Ruskin, a member of anti-media group Commercial Alert, tells NOW.
The youths also served another day of suspension from school. And they were scheduled to serve more time until the family began drawing up a lawsuit against the school, according to their mother. Selena Maurer.
The school backed down in December, she says. “Now they’re allowed to leave when Channel One airs. Other kids come up to them and say, “That’s not fair. We shouldn’t have to watch either.'”GREG KONSTANTINIDIS *
