"Do you know where your children are?" is a question used as a public service announcement (PSA) for parents on American television from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. Accompanied by a time announcement, this phrase is typically used as a direct introduction for the originating station's late-evening newscast, typically at either 10:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m. [1] While the phrase itself had appeared in newspapers as early as the 19th century, usage of it in broadcasting started in the early 1960s following the enactment of nightly youth curfews for minors in multiple large cities. [2]
When proposing a nightly youth curfew in the state in early 1961, Massachusetts state senator William X. Wall urged all radio and television broadcasters to ask the question on air, so as to remind parents to check up on their children. [3] The first high-profile usage of the phrase was by KHJ-TV (KCAL-TV channel 9 since December 1989 [update] ) in Los Angeles in 1964, which had the question read on-air by booth announcers during the nightly 10:00 p.m. station break. [4] Following the adoption of a 10:30 p.m. curfew in Baltimore, WJZ-TV (channel 13) began running the announcement at 11:00 p.m. in consultation with the city's mayor Thomas D'Alesandro III; [5] [note 1] this followed a series of documentaries produced by the station regarding issues facing younger generations and was inspired by positive reception of the PSA on Milwaukee television. [6] WJZ-TV's owner Westinghouse Broadcasting quickly adopted this phrase for other stations owned by the chain, including KYW-TV in Philadelphia and WBZ-TV in Boston. [7] [8]
WNEW-TV (channel 5) in New York City, along with WKBW-TV in Buffalo, New York, are two of the more notable stations to have utilized this announcement. WNEW-TV began using the phrase spoken by Mel Epstein, WNEW-TV's director of on-air promotions, in 1967 in response to the rising level of crime in the city; [2] it is still used by the station (known as WNYW since 1986) on a nightly basis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement was adjusted to encourage people to stay home during the pandemic with the phrase "Stay home. Stay safe. Stay strong. We're all in this together." [9]
The PSA was featured on Time magazine's "Top 10 Public-Service Announcements" list. [1]
The PSA was often parodied. [1] The line appeared in the Simpsons episode "Bart After Dark", upon which Homer Simpson responded to the television, "I told you last night – no!", [1] and as the tagline for the 1999 film 200 Cigarettes .
Michael Jackson's compilation album Xscape , posthumously released in 2014, includes a track titled "Do You Know Where Your Children Are", which was originally recorded in 1984 by Jackson before his "Bad" sessions, and was reworked between 2013 and 2014. In it, Jackson narrates the events of an underage girl who undergoes child sexual abuse and neglect. [10]
Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro Jr. was an American politician who served as the 41st mayor of Baltimore from 1947 to 1959. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously represented Maryland's 3rd congressional district in the United States House of Representatives from 1939 until 1947. He was known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the D'Alesandro political family, which includes Nancy Pelosi, the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives; and Thomas D'Alesandro III, the 44th mayor of Baltimore.
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WNYW is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside Secaucus, New Jersey–licensed MyNetworkTV flagship WWOR-TV. The two stations share studios at the Fox Television Center on East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood; WNYW's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.
WWOR-TV is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the flagship of the MyNetworkTV programming service. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox flagship WNYW. The two stations share studios at the Fox Television Center on East 67th Street in Manhattan's Lenox Hill neighborhood; WWOR-TV's transmitter is located at One World Trade Center.
WJZ-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, serving as the market's CBS outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, adjacent to the transmission tower it shares with several other Baltimore broadcast outlets.
WBAL-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to the company's sole radio properties, WBAL and WIYY. The three outlets share studios and offices on Television Hill in the Woodberry section of Baltimore, near the transmission tower that WBAL-TV also shares with WIYY and several other Baltimore television and radio stations.
WMAR-TV is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios and offices are located on York Road in Towson north of the Baltimore City–Baltimore County border. Its transmitter and antenna, which is on a landmark three-pronged candelabra broadcast tower, is located on Television Hill in the Woodberry neighborhood of Baltimore.
PM/Evening Magazine was a television series with a news and entertainment format. It was syndicated to stations throughout the United States. In most areas, Evening/PM Magazine was broadcast from the late 1970s into the late 1980s.
William Carl Jorgensen was the founding and longtime anchor of New York City's WNEW-TV's Ten O'Clock News from its inception on March 13, 1967, until he left in the spring of 1979. Jorgensen moved to WPIX-TV, also in New York City, where he anchored the news until his retirement in 1987. He was born in Park Ridge, Illinois.
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Thomas Ludwig John D'Alesandro III was an American attorney and politician who served as the 44th mayor of Baltimore from 1967 to 1971. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the president of the Baltimore City Council from 1962 to 1967. During his tenure as mayor, the Baltimore riot of 1968 occurred. He was the eldest son of Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., the 41st mayor of Baltimore; and brother of Nancy Pelosi, the 52nd speaker of the United States House of Representatives, and first woman to hold that office.
Louis J. "Lou" Steele was an American actor, radio, and television announcer.
Thomas R. Gregory was an American radio and television announcer and news anchor.
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Creature Features a classic horror film show broadcast in the New York Metropolitan Area, on WNEW, Channel 5. It was hosted by Lou Steele, who became familiar to Channel 5 viewers for starting off the 10 o'clock News by asking: "It's 10 p.m.; do you know where your children are?"
"Do You Know Where Your Children Are" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released as the sixth track on Jackson's second posthumous album, Xscape (2014).
On April 12, 2015, Baltimore Police Department officers arrested Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old African American resident of Baltimore, Maryland. Gray's neck and spine were injured while he was in a police vehicle and he went into a coma. On April 18, there were protests in front of the Western district police station. Gray died on April 19.
William Edward Baekey was an American film and television actor.
First launched by a small ABC affiliate in upstate New York...