Common Sense Kids Action is a new part of Common Sense Media,
a wonderful organization and website that rates, educates, and
advocates for kids, families, and schools. It is a great place to find
reviews of kids apps, video games, books, movies and more. And they have
always advocated for kids, even before Common Sense Kids Action was created.
"Common Sense Kids Action builds upon the existing work and platforms of its parent organization, Common Sense Media, a leading national nonprofit with exceptional reach into the parent and teacher community and over a decade of experience helping all kids, families and educators thrive in a world of media and technology".
The reason that Common Sense Kids Action was
formed is that they wanted to take advocacy efforts to a whole new
level. Kids and Education need to be not just a priority for this
nation. They need to be the number one priority.
Are any of you
aware of the work that AARP does? It is a non-profit membership group
that advocates for its members and one of the most powerful lobbying
groups in the country.
Common Sense Kids Action wants to have that power and influence for kids.
To improve education and the success of children in schools, there are four issues that need to be dealt with:
63%
of schools don't have enough broadband or Wi-Fi to allow schools to
provide students with a full array of digital opportunities. Common
Sense Kids Action plan is to:
- Working with bipartisan Leading Education by Advancing Digital (LEAD) Commission to create a path toward digital learning in the United States.
- Working on a program of finding the most effective learning devices and hope to have a device for all students by 2020.
Kids
and Teens must be able to go online at home, school, and away, so they
must know all about safety and privacy. Common Sense Kids Action plan is
to:
- Support legislation to make the safety and privacy protections of kids and teens even stronger.
- Work with legislators for policies that empower parents, teachers and students to use technology, while keeping their personal information private.
- Provide resources to educators that teach students to make safe and smart decisions in the digital world.
- School Privacy Zone - When students and families provide personal information to schools for educational purposes, that information must be protected from abuse.
We know it is important, yet millions don't receive it. Common Sense Kids Action plan is to:
- Try to get policy-makers to increase spending on affordable preschools
- Advocate for increased access to quality health care and nutrition for babies and toddlers
If
kids in underserved homes lack resources, than everything that Common
Sense Kids does above will never be enough. The Federal Communications
Commission's initiative to modernize Lifeline is an essential part of
bridging this divide, as it commits to extending broadband access to
low-income and underserved areas.
Would you like to be kept informed on the progress that Common Sense Kids Action is making or even help out? Just click on this Sign Up to Take Action Page and give them your email and zip code, and they will keep you in the loop.
To sum up the aspirations of Common Sense Kids Action, James P. Steyer, Founder and CEO, said this:
"This begins with making sure that every American child has the right start in life and access to quality early education opportunities. It means we must wire every classroom and every home for high-quality broadband so that all teachers and parents have the technology tools they need to improve learning and get kids focused on college and career. And it means ensuring all kids are held to high standards that reflect the complex demands of the world they are going to inherit. Common Sense Kids Action is working to ensure that no decision is made in this country without thinking about children and their education first.”
By Jennifer Wagner
Family Technology Expert
