For Kids Sake
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| For Kids Sake | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Educational |
| Presented by | Various (see below) |
| Narrated by | Various (see below) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Production location | Various locations throughout the United States |
| Running time | 30-90 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | WBZ-TV Syndication |
| Release | March 4, 1985 – 1996 |
For Kids' Sake is an American public service announcement (PSA) campaign launched by Westinghouse Broadcasting and Boston's then-NBC television station WBZ-TV in March 1985, featuring educational, health, and safety messages for children.[1][2] The campaign encourages parents to "take the time to give and care" to ensure a brighter future for children across the United States. Despite the show targeting at adults age 25 and 54,[3] For Kids' Sake is a two-year campaign (multi-year on some stations) that aired in many television markets throughout the 1980s, with a small number of stations continuing into portions of the 1990s.
For Kids' Sake started life as a special three-part series produced by WBZ's Channel 4 Eyewitness News team on March 4, 1985, encouraging viewers on why growing up in the future was more difficult "than what it used to be".[4] The series explains the pressures of experiencing drugs, alcohol, and sex, as well as contending struggles with family life, racial harmony, and technology with an uncertain future.[4] Later that year, WBZ and Westinghouse produced its own primetime television series based out of its context. Throughout the 1985 season, the campaign was so successful that Group W expanded For Kids' Sake to all of its owned-and-operated stations at the start of 1986, beginning with then-NBC affiliate KYW-TV in Philadelphia that January.[5] By the end of the year, the show expanded to non-Westinghouse stations and became a stable in local television across the United States, airing in a total of 114 stations from Big Four networks, independent stations, and superstations. Over a span of four years between 1988 and 1992, Group W created three more public service vignette campaigns, A Time to Care, Thanks to the Teachers, and Celebrate America, with A Time to Care being the concept's sequel to For Kids' Sake.[6]
