CR teams with National Parent Teachers Association & National School Boards Association on new venture to help prevent child injuries, deaths
Yonkers, NY — September 29, 2009 — Consumer Reports® is teaming up with the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the National School Boards Association (NSBA) to deliver critical and time-sensitive information on recalled and defective products to millions of parents and educators across the United States.
The web-based Consumer Reports School Safety Alert Program will distribute safety alerts and recall notices on children’s products including toys, foods and furniture.
Consumer Reports has created a micro site, www.ConsumerReports.org/schoolsafety that will contain news and videos on the latest product recalls from the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission and Food & Drug Administration impacting children. CR’s partners, the PTA and NSBA, have agreed to distribute and help promote the online resource to their millions of members.
The School Safety Alert Program will formally be launched on Wednesday, September 30. The National PTA is distributing the link to the site through the e-mail newsletters sent to its members every two weeks. The National School Boards Association is asking individual school boards across the country to incorporate the link onto school district websites.
“Time and time again, we’ve seen incidents of recalled products including bassinets, window blind chords, and toys killing or injuring children.” said Jim Guest, President and CEO of Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports. “The goal of the School Safety Alert Program is to get key recall and safety information to parents and prevent those tragedies. The National PTA and NSBA are ideal partners given their incomparable reach and impeccable reputations as trustworthy resources for educators and families.”
Tens of millions of children each year are needlessly exposed to unsafe products, toys and foods that been recalled by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Each year, approximately 50 children are killed, hundreds are sickened and thousands of others are injured by these products. According to an analysis by Consumers Union, in Fiscal Year 2008 the CPSC issued a record 563 recalls for 43 million unsafe products (up 19 percent from the previous year.) Two-thirds, or 29 million were toys, clothing or other children’s products, posing such dangers as strangulation, poisoning, or choking.
The significant scope of each of the partners’ networks is essential to the program’s goal of widespread information dissemination. Consumer Reports® reaches more than 4 million subscribers, and www.ConsumerReports.org® is the largest paid subscriber site in the world with over 3.3 million paid Web subscribers. The National PTA is the largest volunteer organization in the country with over five million members, and NSBA can reach up to half of the school-aged children in the United States in grades K-12.
“National PTA prides itself on being a resource for parents and child advocates. For decades families have relied on PTA for information important to them. That’s why we’re proud to serve as a key partner with Consumer Reports and the NSBA to help keep children and families safe by providing them timely and relevant information,” said Chuck Saylors, National PTA President.
“Working with our communities – with parents and businesses – and by using the communications tools that are available to us is the best way for school boards to make sure that this kind of message reaches the public,” said C.H. ‘Sonny’ Savoie, President of NSBA. “NSBA is proud to be working with the Consumer’s Union and PTA on this unique partnership.”
The Consumer Reports School Safety Alert micro site, www.ConsumerReports.org/schoolsafety, will include information on the latest product safety news, including recall notices from the CPSC and FDA, and safety videos created by the product testing and safety experts at Consumer Reports. Among the recalls that are currently posted are those involving toys with lead paint hazards, Roman shades that pose a strangulation hazard, and entertainment stands for television sets that may pose a tip-over hazard. The page and safety information can also be found at www.pta.org/safetyalert.
About Consumers Union
Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports, is an expert, independent nonprofit organization whose mission is to work for a fair, just, and safe marketplace for all consumers and to empower consumers. To achieve this mission, CU tests, informs, and protects. To maintain independence and impartiality, CU accepts no outside advertising, no free test samples, and has no agenda other than the interests of consumers. CU supports itself through the sale of information products and services, individual contributions, and a few noncommercial grants. CU’s flagship publication, Consumer Reports magazine, has a circulation of more than 4 million, while the magazine’s Web site ConsumerReports.org has over 3.2 million paid subscribers and is the largest subscription-based Web site in the industry. In addition, CU has successfully launched and expanded Consumer Reports on Health, Consumer Reports Money Adviser, and, most recently, ShopSmart magazine.
About the National Parent Teacher Association
The National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) comprises millions of families, students, teachers, administrators, and business and community leaders devoted to the educational success of children and the promotion of parent involvement in schools. PTA is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit association that prides itself on being a powerful voice for all children, a relevant resource for families and communities, and a strong advocate for public education. Membership in PTA is open to anyone who wants to be involved and make a difference for the education, health, and welfare of children and youth.
About the National School Boards Association
Founded in 1940, the National School Boards Association (www.nsba.org) is a not-for-profit federation of state associations of school boards representing 95,000 local school board members throughout the United States. Its mission is to foster excellence and equity in public elementary and secondary education through local school board leadership. NSBA represents the school board perspective in working with federal government agencies and national organizations that impact education, and provides vital information and services to state associations of school boards throughout the nation.
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