ParentCenter.com(R) Helps Families Survive the Long Winter Months With the New Family Entertainment Guide
ParentCenter.com(R) Helps Families Survive the Long Winter Months With the New Family Entertainment Guide
Leading Parenting Site Partners With Common Sense Media(SM) to Provide Unbiased Ratings and Reviews That Help Parents Make Smart Media Choices
SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- BabyCenter(R), L.L.C., today announced the launch of the Family Entertainment Guide on ParentCenter.com(R), the leading online resource for parents of children ages 2 to 8. The Family Entertainment Guide includes over 2,000 reviews with comprehensive, age-specific information about movies, TV programs, music, books, video games, and Web sites. ParentCenter.com(R) selected Common Sense Media(SM), a leading non-partisan, not-for-profit organization to provide the reviews and ratings for the new online guide.
A recent poll on ParentCenter.com(R) reveals that parents want a credible resource to help them make smart media choices for their own family. Since 48% said they do not trust the MPAA(R) movie rating system, current ratings systems are often failing to meet their needs. When asked who they would trust to provide guidance for selecting children's movies, more parents chose a parents' group or non-profit organization that specializes in reviewing family entertainment than any other option.
ParentCenter's Family Entertainment Guide was created in partnership with Common Sense Media(SM), an organization led by concerned parents and supported by influential academics, business people, and child policy experts. "Like us, Common Sense Media recognizes how integral media has become in the lives of modern families," said Mari Baker, president of BabyCenter. "We selected Common Sense Media because of their insightful coverage of all types of family media -- not just movies -- and their dedication to empowering parents to make responsible choices based on their own family's values."
The Family Entertainment Guide helps parents keep up with the ever-changing array of family entertainment and educational media options. Age recommendations and star ratings give a quick overview. Color-coded ON, OFF, and PAUSE buttons provide more detailed ratings based on criteria that are important to families: drug, alcohol, and tobacco use, sexual content, role models, commercialism, language, and violence -- including scariness.
The complete "Common Sense Review" provides in-depth guidance: for example, the G-rated movie Polar Express was recommended for children ages six and above, but the review also offered warnings about specific scenes that might scare younger children. Reviews posted by parents provide additional input, "Our daughter is four and we were looking for a good 'first movie' to take her to. Since Polar Express was rated G and I had heard good word-of-mouth, it seemed like the right choice ... Had I read the Common Sense review first we would have better known what to expect ... "
"Parents have told us that existing ratings systems don't offer enough information about media content, and that the age guidelines are too broad. Also, parents don't trust them because most are industry sponsored, and don't necessarily have their interests in mind," said Jim Steyer, CEO and founder of Common Sense Media. "With more than 3 million parents visiting ParentCenter.com and BabyCenter.com each month, our partnership enables us to reach far more parents and help them make the best media choices for their families."
Parents can subscribe to the ParentCenter(R) Bulletin, a weekly email newsletter with reviews of newly released movies, DVDs, and other media, along with important parenting news and advice at www.parentcenter.com. To try out the ParentCenter(R) Family Entertainment Guide, visit www.parentcenter.com/reviews/.
About BabyCenter(R)
BabyCenter(R), L.L.C., operates www.babycenter.com, the most visited online resource for new and expectant parents, and www.parentcenter.com, the leading online resource for parents of children ages 2 to 8. Offering extensive, medical advisory board-approved content, BabyCenter's Web sites attract an average of 3 million visitors each month, as measured by comScore Media Metrix, and have been honored with numerous awards, including an Online Journalism Award. In addition, BabyCenter.com and ParentCenter.com offer an array of interactive tools, a supportive online community, a premium subscription service, and an online store featuring thousands of products for parents and children. The BabyCenter(R), L.L.C., family of Web sites also includes BabyCentre.co.uk. BabyCenter(R), L.L.C. is a member of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies.
About Common Sense Media(SM)
Common Sense Media(SM) is the leading non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving kids' media lives. Our mission is to give parents, educators, and kids a choice and a voice about the media they consume. Common Sense provides easy to use, reliable information about media content. We believe in sanity, not censorship. Our goal is to provide trustworthy information and create a forum where adults and kids can learn from each other, speak out and participate in creating a responsible and enjoyable media environment for everyone. In addition, Common Sense Media sends out a weekly on-line newsletter that provides up-to-the minute reviews of the most recent media releases, parenting advice and important news and research on kids and media. For more information about Common Sense Media(SM) visit www.commonsensemedia.org. To receive the newsletter, go to www.commonsensemedia/newsletter.org.
Source: BabyCenter, L.L.C.
CONTACT: Kathryn Grant of KGPR, +1-415-381-4446, or Kathryn@kg-pr.com,
for BabyCenter, L.L.C.
Web site: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/
Web site: http://www.parentcenter.com/
Web site: http://www.babycenter.com/
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