The cable television industry has a long-standing, ongoing commitment to education. Through cable's education initiatives, quality programming and state-of-the-art technology, the industry provides a broad range of learning resources to America's children and families.

Tools for Teachers & Parents

Cable Service to Schools

Cable operators in the state of Tennessee provide free cable and internet service to more than 1,400 schools and 250 libraries in 138 school districts across the state. If your school would like more information about free cable and internet services, please contact TCTA or your local cable operator.
(Click here to find your local cable operator.)

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Cable in the Classroom is a non-profit public service organization that was created by the cable industry in 1989. Since its launch, more than 8,400 cable operators and 38 cable networks have invested over $500 million in this ongoing effort. Cable operators have provided cable connections and educational programming to more than 78,000 schools and 41 million students nationwide, and cable networks have provided schools with 540 hours of commercial-free programming each month to complement current curriculum at no cost to schools or students. Cable in the Classroom also offers free professional development resources for educators, including integrating computer and video educational technologies into the curriculum.

** Click here (www.ciconline.org) to learn more about Cable in the Classroom.

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Cable provides a wide range of television programs for all kinds of audiences, including many channels that serve children and families all day, every day. The cable industry provides parents and caregivers with tools to control and manage the programs that come into their homes.

** To learn more about how the industry helps parents and caregivers better understand how to take charge of their children's use of media, click here.

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Taking Charge of Your TV was launched in 1994 as a partnership of the cable television industry and the National PTA to address concerns about television and the impact of television violence and commercialism on children.

The partnership trains cable and PTA leaders nationwide in the key elements of critical viewing, also known as media literacy, and how to present Taking Charge of Your TV workshops for parents, educators and organizations in their communities. The goal is to help families make more informed choices about the TV programs they view and improve the way that children watch television.

Since its creation, thousands of parents have attended local critical viewing workshops and over 350,000 copies of the videos, guides and other support materials have been distributed nationally. If you would you like to order any of the Cable & Telecommunications Industry's educational materials listed above, contact criticalviewing@ciconline.org.

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In 1996, the television industry came together to develop the TV Parental Guidelines, a voluntary system designed to provide information about the age appropriateness of a program, as well as specific information about the content of the program. Up to 2,000 hours of television are available in American homes each day. The TV Parental Guidelines were created to help parents sort through this huge volume of material and choose programs they want their young children to see or not to see.

Now, most television programs carry a TV Parental Guideline. Additionally, broadcast and cable networks encode the ratings information into their television signals to be "read" by V-chip-equipped television sets. As of January 1, 2000, all television sets with screens larger than 13" contain the V-chip technology. Using the V-chip, parents are able to block out programming they do not want their children to watch.

Today, the cable industry continues to work with children's advocacy groups to increase public awareness of these important tools.

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The webTeacher training program was developed in partnership with TECH CORPS®, a grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to bringing technology into America's classrooms. A comprehensive, interactive, 80-hour online tutorial, the program can be used as a workbook for individual teachers or as part of a group training session.

** Click here (www.webteacher.org) for more information about the webTeacher program.