KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Campaign:

8 Reasons Why Your Organization
Might Want To Be Involved?

• Media is here to stay
• The average American child, age 8 to 18 now
  spends more than 7 ½ hours a day watching a “screen”
  – TV, computers, videogames, film, smart phones.
• Learning to critique media is essential. The information received through media – film, videogames, Internet, TV, even text books -  is constructed reality with messages, often subconscious, that shape our beliefs, values and attitudes. 
• Learning to critique media allows children to develop skills in critical
  thinking, language skills, writing and public speaking.
• Ethnicity, gender roles, and age presentations in the media affect our
  youth in many ways, often not positively.
• By teaching children how to critique media, we give them the skills to
  seek out and use more appropriate media, media that will enhance their lives.
• The KIDS FIRST! Film Critics’ curriculum has been developed by educators, child development professionals and leading children’s media specialists. It is a secular program, designed for children between the ages of 6 and 15.
• Affiliate program available for organizational partners. Affiliates can receive money for purchases by their members of The Velveteen Rabbit  from the Steppiing Stones Media website.

Kids reviewing films for kids. Doesn’t this make sense?

• The goal of the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics’ Weekend is to Break the World Record for the most children viewing and reviewing the same film, on the same weekend together with a caring adult.
• Children will view The Velveteen Rabbit and post their reviews on their social media sites: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter or school website.
• Discussion guides will be available from KIDS FIRST! and partners.
• Fundamental to KIDS FIRST! mission is teaching children to seek out media that is beneficial to them and learn lessons relevant to their lives. We feel, that with proper training, kids can be their own best critics.
• Winners of the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics’ Search are announced during the KIDS FIRST!  Film Critics’ Weekend.
• Proceeds from this program will benefit the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics’ program.
  

Fact: The average American child will spend more time watching television and playing videogames than he or she will spend in school. You have a right to be concerned about the amount of time kids spend on media.

The goal of KIDS FIRST! is to engage children in becoming media savvy so that the time they spend with media is beneficial. And this takes education. Please join us to teach children healthy media habits that last a lifetime.

Rather than tell kids what to watch, we teach them the skills to make their own informed decisions. In the KIDS FIRST! Film Critic’s program, children learn to critique and write reviews about media they enjoy. Kids learn to take individual responsibility for a healthy media lifestyle.

Why not have kids reviewing films for kids?  Most film reviewers are adults and review films from an adult perspective. As veteran film critic Gene Shalit commented recently in a review “Clash of the Titans is cool for kids, plenty of fights, beasts, and best of all the words don’t matter.”

Do you really believe that words don’t matter to a child?

With your support, KIDS FIRST! can reach millions of kids and change their behavior from being passive to active viewers. When we change kids’ behavior, we change the behavior of families and our communities. Everyone benefits.

Parent to Parent. Kid to Kid. Neighbor to Neighbor. This is how we plan to spread the message of this campaign, through people who have a vested interest in how kids behave and want to make positive changes in their lives.

Your participation is needed to make a difference.

Return to the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Campaign Page