Voice your opinions

• If you want to lodge a complaint about television content, send a letter to the offending station or network. For local television stations — consult your telephone book. For all other stations and networks — look for contact information on their Web sites.
  
  
• If you don't receive a satisfactory reply, send a letter of complaint to:
  • Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC)
  • Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
  
  
• Concerns about advertising on Canadian television should be directed to:
  • Advertising Standards Canada (ASC)
  • Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC)

Community Action

• Organize a parent media awareness group at your school. You can gauge the level of interest (and clarify your priorities and goals) by sending a copy of the Your Family and Media survey home to parents with your school newsletter.
  
  
• Print off the Managing Television in the Home and Talking to Your Kids about Television sections and include them in your school or community newsletter.
  
  
• Organize a TV Turnoff Week event at your child's school, or through a Guiding/Scout unit. This North American event happens each spring and involves hundreds of schools, libraries and individuals. For ideas on how to host an event, visit our TV Turnoff Week section.
  
  
• Celebrate UNICEF's International Children's Day of Broadcasting. Ask your local community channel if your child's class or Guiding/Scout unit can produce a segment or show to be aired on the day of the event. Solicit the help of parents in your neighbourhood who have television production experience.
  
  
• Ask toy stores to stop carrying toys for young children based on violent TV shows. BICP (Brutality isn't child's play) is a U.S. organization that is conducting a campaign to get Toys “R” Us to stop carrying dolls based on WWF wrestlers. You can find out about the campaign on the BICP Web site.
  
  
• Start a petition against television violence and forward it to the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB), the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), and federal politicians—including your MP, the Ministers for Canadian Heritage, Health and Industry, and the Prime Minister.

For inspiration, read about a thirteen-year-old Canadian girl's successful TV violence petition (see The Virginie Larivière Anti-TV Violence Petition in the right sidebar).