“It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”
New York City's Channel 5 (then WNEW, now FOX television) has a 10 o'clock newscast. Before each newscast appears the public service announcement: "It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?"
The announcement (created in 1969 and trademarked) became very popular, but it was not the first such announcement. "Do you know where your children are tonight and what they are doing?" was printed in The Gazette and Daily (York, PA) on March 20, 1954. "Ten o'clock is curfew time in Los Angeles. Do you know where your children are?" was printed in the Los Angeles (CA) Times on November 1, 1964. "Proponents praised WJZ-TV for asking the nightly question: 'It's 11 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?'" was printed in The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD) on January 13, 1967.
Wikipedia: Do you know where your children are?
"Do you know where your children are?" is a question used as a public service announcement (PSA) for parents on American television especially from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. One of the first adopters of the phrase was Mel Epstein, the Director of On-Air Promotions at New York's WNEW-TV, who began using the phrase in 1967 in response to rising crime in the city. Another hypothesis has the phrase originating at "a small ABC affiliate in western New York", referring to WKBW-TV in Buffalo.
The question "Do you know where your children are?", preceded by an announcement of the current time, is typically asked around 10:00 PM or 11:00 PM, depending on the market and the time of the local youth curfew, usually immediately preceding the station's late-evening newscast.
24 November 1943, Brooklyn (NY) Daily Eagle, "Jurist Hits Lax Parents for Increase in Juvenile Crime," pg. 3, col. 1:
The justice (Justice Juvenal Marchisio of Comestic Relations Court -- ed.) repeated his suggestion, made before the holdover August grand jury and incorporated in its recent presentment charging widespread lawlessness in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district, that all city radio stations should broadcast at 9 o'clock every night, "Parents, do you know where your children are and what they are doing?"
1 December 1943, The News-Herald (Franklin, PA), "We, the Women" by Ruth Millett," pg. 4, col. 5:
But suppose at 9 o'clock a radio announcer said: "Parents, do you know where your children are and what they are doing now?"
20 March 1954, The Gazette and Daily (York, PA), "Radio and Television" by John Lester, pg. 16, col. 1:
Add good public service idea: A local TV station (WATV) and its radio affiliate (WAAT) are broadcasting the following announcement nightly these nights: "Do you know where your children are tonight and what they are doing?" It is hoped that some parents, out on the town or visiting, will have a listen and think.
1 February 1961, Boston (MA) Evening America, "Kid Curfew Solon Asks Help of TV," pg. 13, col. 3:
A Massachusetts state senator wants a 7 p. m. to 7 a. m. curfew on youngsters under 14 and has called upon radio and television stations to remind parents to check up on their children periodically.
Sen. William X. Wall (D) of Lawrence, who said a curfew is the best way to keep children at home instead of prowling the streets and getting into bad habits, said announcers should ask their listeners, "Do you know where your children are now?"
"Parents sometimes get interested in TV programs and forget their children are still out," said Wall.
1 August 1963, McHenry (IL) Plaindealer, pg. 10, col. 1:
Have you ever been watching T.V. and had the caption "Do you know where your children?" come across the screen? Do you?
1 November 1964, Los Angeles (CA) Times, "Politics, Stay 'Way From My Door" by Matt Weinstock, pg. F-7, col. 3:
At the station break, announcer Ted Meyers or Frank Carroll of Channel 9 proclaim nightly, "Ten o'clock is curfew time in Los Angeles. Do you know where your children are?"
13 January 1967, The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD), "Mr. Peep's Diary," pg. 1, col. 2:
Proponents praised WJZ-TV for asking the nightly question: "It's 11 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"
29 March 1967, Variety, Radio-Television (Baltimore), pg. 62, col. 2:
Baltimore County Council had adopted a resolution commanding WJZ-TV, WBAL-TV and WMAR-TV for nightly 11 p.m. questioning of parents as to the whereabouts of children. "It's 11 p.m. Parents, do you know where your children are?" was initiated by WJZ-TV. Other stations picked it up as a public service.
23 June 1967, Boston (MA) Globe, "Ask the Globe," pg. 2, col. 1:
Q -- Why on Ch. 4 at 11 each night do they ask,"Do you know where your children are?" -- S.D. Auburndale.
A -- This message was developed last year by the Group W (Westinghouse) station in Baltimore in cooperation with the mayor there. It is intended to strengthen parents' sense of responsibility for the actions of their children, and thus forestall the possibility of teen-agers drifting into situations where police action becomes necessary. The message is now being carried as a public service by many Group W outlets.
10 July 1969, Los Angeles (CA) Times, pg. 29:
Parents...
Do you know where your children are?
(Ad for Delta Billiard Tables -- ed.)
5 February 1970, Washington (DC) Post, "College Theater Raises Curtain" by Richard L. Coe, pg. C10:
Fittingly, a student-created musical will be the opening attraction that Tuesday, running through the 21st, with a Saturday matinee. This is by Cary Engleberg and Lewis Black, "Do You Know Where Your Children Are?"
(George Washington University -- ed.)
6 November 1972, Los Angeles (CA) Times, "Country Park, a Family Complex," pg. F45:
Parents, do you know where your children are?
8 January 1973, Los Angeles (CA) Times, "Teen Camp-out at Junior Arts Center," pg. F1:
Here it was, after midnight, the thermometer on the Hertz sign down the street reading 43 degrees, and -- DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE TONIGHT? -- there must have been 50 of 'em loose in Barnsdall Park.
17 March 1974, Chicago (IL) Tribune, pg. F7:
Do you know where your children are? They may be out picketing for children's liberation,
5 October 1975, Washington Post, pg. 48:
"You used to ask, 'Do you know where your children are?' What happened, you don't ask it anymore?"
-- Viewer letter to WTTG-TV.
13 June 1976, New York (NY) Times, "Endpaper" by Glenn Collins, pg. 212:
101 things to love about New York City
(...)
12. It's 10 P.M. Do you know where YOUR children are?
12 June 1977, New York (NY) Times, "Film View" by Vincent Canby, pg. 83:
It's mid-June, 1977 -- do you know where your children are?
19 September 1977, New York (NY) Times, "Twigs" by Hortense Calisher, pg. 35:
"Do you know where your children are?" flashes the TV, that public-service arbiter.
27 October 1977, Los Angeles (CA) Times, pg. J32:
It's 10 a.m. Saturday...do you know where your children are?
6 January 1978, New York (NY) Times, pg. B4:
"It is 10 P.M. Parents, do you know where your children are?"
31 March 1979, New York (NY) Times, pg. 21:
When the TV says "it's ten o'clock. Do you know where your children are?" I start asking myself.
16 November 1980, Los Angeles (CA) Times, pg. G3:
"It is 11 o'clock, and there's a curfew in Atlanta. Do you know where your children are?"
4 July 1982, New York (NY) Times, pg. SM10:
This is why I paid no attention at first when that voice coming out of the television set nightly at 10 o'clock said, "It's 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?"
21 May 1984, New York (NY) Times, pg. A17 ad:
Channel 5's community involvement initiated the Jerry Lewis Telethon. It pioneered Focus Spots that cut through racial and economic barriers, giving the public a chance to be heard. It inspired Big Apple Minutes. And raised the question, now echoed in various forms throughout the country, "It's 10PM. Do You Know Where Your Children Are?"
(...)
5
WNEW-TV
FORTY YEARS OF FINE TUNING
METROMEDIA NEW YORK
6 June 1988, New York Times, pg. C18:
Switch on Channel 5
"It's 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?" For nearly 20 years, that question has confronted viewers on Channel 5. It has caught on far beyond New York, sometimes in forms altered by stand-up comedians.
But last April the message changed: "Did you read to your child today?" Some sign of the times? No, the station says. Just a temporary switch, during its public service literacy campaign. The old question is to return next Monday.
30 October 1988, New York (NY) Times, "Mother Takes Envious Look at Chaperoning of 18-Year-Olds" by Evelyn Jackson, pg. WC30:
I especially feel it at night when the Channel 5 announcer asks: It is 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"
1 June 1992, New York (NY) Times, "'The 10 O'Clock News' Gives a Nod to Its Past" by Walter Goodman, pg. C13:
The producers of "The 10 O'Clock News" -- probably most famous for bringing show-business personalities and hopefuls on to declare: "It's 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?" -- take credit for putting forth an "intense," "gritty," "in-your-face" newscast that challenged the establishment or even waged guerrilla war on it.
YouTube
"IT'S 10PM, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE?
tapthatt2012
Published on Mar 7, 2010
A FEW WEEKS AGO, A SHOW RAN A FEW MINUTES OVER ON FOX 5 (NY).
THE ANNOUNCER SAID "IT'S AFTER 10PM,...." I WONDER HOW OFTEN THEY HAVE SAID THAT.
I REMEMBER IT RAN LATE ONCE A FEW MONTHS AGO AND THEY DID'NT SAY IT AT ALL.
(Trademark)
Word Mark IT'S 10 P.M., DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE? 5
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 038. US 104. G & S: TELEVISION BROADCASTING SERVICES. FIRST USE: 19690600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19690000
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 02.01.30 - Business suits (men wearing); Men wearing two or three piece business suits
16.01.03 - CB radios; Projection screens (television); Radios; Remote controls, television; Screens, projection; Screens, television; Television sets
Serial Number 73498985
Filing Date September 12, 1984
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) METROMEDIA, INC. CORPORATION DELAWARE ONE HARMON PLAZA SECAUCUS NEW JERSEY 07094
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record HOWARD C. MISKIN
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date August 23, 1988
The announcement (created in 1969 and trademarked) became very popular, but it was not the first such announcement. "Do you know where your children are tonight and what they are doing?" was printed in The Gazette and Daily (York, PA) on March 20, 1954. "Ten o'clock is curfew time in Los Angeles. Do you know where your children are?" was printed in the Los Angeles (CA) Times on November 1, 1964. "Proponents praised WJZ-TV for asking the nightly question: 'It's 11 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?'" was printed in The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD) on January 13, 1967.
Wikipedia: Do you know where your children are?
"Do you know where your children are?" is a question used as a public service announcement (PSA) for parents on American television especially from the late 1960s through the late 1980s. One of the first adopters of the phrase was Mel Epstein, the Director of On-Air Promotions at New York's WNEW-TV, who began using the phrase in 1967 in response to rising crime in the city. Another hypothesis has the phrase originating at "a small ABC affiliate in western New York", referring to WKBW-TV in Buffalo.
The question "Do you know where your children are?", preceded by an announcement of the current time, is typically asked around 10:00 PM or 11:00 PM, depending on the market and the time of the local youth curfew, usually immediately preceding the station's late-evening newscast.
24 November 1943, Brooklyn (NY) Daily Eagle, "Jurist Hits Lax Parents for Increase in Juvenile Crime," pg. 3, col. 1:
The justice (Justice Juvenal Marchisio of Comestic Relations Court -- ed.) repeated his suggestion, made before the holdover August grand jury and incorporated in its recent presentment charging widespread lawlessness in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district, that all city radio stations should broadcast at 9 o'clock every night, "Parents, do you know where your children are and what they are doing?"
1 December 1943, The News-Herald (Franklin, PA), "We, the Women" by Ruth Millett," pg. 4, col. 5:
But suppose at 9 o'clock a radio announcer said: "Parents, do you know where your children are and what they are doing now?"
20 March 1954, The Gazette and Daily (York, PA), "Radio and Television" by John Lester, pg. 16, col. 1:
Add good public service idea: A local TV station (WATV) and its radio affiliate (WAAT) are broadcasting the following announcement nightly these nights: "Do you know where your children are tonight and what they are doing?" It is hoped that some parents, out on the town or visiting, will have a listen and think.
1 February 1961, Boston (MA) Evening America, "Kid Curfew Solon Asks Help of TV," pg. 13, col. 3:
A Massachusetts state senator wants a 7 p. m. to 7 a. m. curfew on youngsters under 14 and has called upon radio and television stations to remind parents to check up on their children periodically.
Sen. William X. Wall (D) of Lawrence, who said a curfew is the best way to keep children at home instead of prowling the streets and getting into bad habits, said announcers should ask their listeners, "Do you know where your children are now?"
"Parents sometimes get interested in TV programs and forget their children are still out," said Wall.
1 August 1963, McHenry (IL) Plaindealer, pg. 10, col. 1:
Have you ever been watching T.V. and had the caption "Do you know where your children?" come across the screen? Do you?
1 November 1964, Los Angeles (CA) Times, "Politics, Stay 'Way From My Door" by Matt Weinstock, pg. F-7, col. 3:
At the station break, announcer Ted Meyers or Frank Carroll of Channel 9 proclaim nightly, "Ten o'clock is curfew time in Los Angeles. Do you know where your children are?"
13 January 1967, The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD), "Mr. Peep's Diary," pg. 1, col. 2:
Proponents praised WJZ-TV for asking the nightly question: "It's 11 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"
29 March 1967, Variety, Radio-Television (Baltimore), pg. 62, col. 2:
Baltimore County Council had adopted a resolution commanding WJZ-TV, WBAL-TV and WMAR-TV for nightly 11 p.m. questioning of parents as to the whereabouts of children. "It's 11 p.m. Parents, do you know where your children are?" was initiated by WJZ-TV. Other stations picked it up as a public service.
23 June 1967, Boston (MA) Globe, "Ask the Globe," pg. 2, col. 1:
Q -- Why on Ch. 4 at 11 each night do they ask,"Do you know where your children are?" -- S.D. Auburndale.
A -- This message was developed last year by the Group W (Westinghouse) station in Baltimore in cooperation with the mayor there. It is intended to strengthen parents' sense of responsibility for the actions of their children, and thus forestall the possibility of teen-agers drifting into situations where police action becomes necessary. The message is now being carried as a public service by many Group W outlets.
10 July 1969, Los Angeles (CA) Times, pg. 29:
Parents...
Do you know where your children are?
(Ad for Delta Billiard Tables -- ed.)
5 February 1970, Washington (DC) Post, "College Theater Raises Curtain" by Richard L. Coe, pg. C10:
Fittingly, a student-created musical will be the opening attraction that Tuesday, running through the 21st, with a Saturday matinee. This is by Cary Engleberg and Lewis Black, "Do You Know Where Your Children Are?"
(George Washington University -- ed.)
6 November 1972, Los Angeles (CA) Times, "Country Park, a Family Complex," pg. F45:
Parents, do you know where your children are?
8 January 1973, Los Angeles (CA) Times, "Teen Camp-out at Junior Arts Center," pg. F1:
Here it was, after midnight, the thermometer on the Hertz sign down the street reading 43 degrees, and -- DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE TONIGHT? -- there must have been 50 of 'em loose in Barnsdall Park.
17 March 1974, Chicago (IL) Tribune, pg. F7:
Do you know where your children are? They may be out picketing for children's liberation,
5 October 1975, Washington Post, pg. 48:
"You used to ask, 'Do you know where your children are?' What happened, you don't ask it anymore?"
-- Viewer letter to WTTG-TV.
13 June 1976, New York (NY) Times, "Endpaper" by Glenn Collins, pg. 212:
101 things to love about New York City
(...)
12. It's 10 P.M. Do you know where YOUR children are?
12 June 1977, New York (NY) Times, "Film View" by Vincent Canby, pg. 83:
It's mid-June, 1977 -- do you know where your children are?
19 September 1977, New York (NY) Times, "Twigs" by Hortense Calisher, pg. 35:
"Do you know where your children are?" flashes the TV, that public-service arbiter.
27 October 1977, Los Angeles (CA) Times, pg. J32:
It's 10 a.m. Saturday...do you know where your children are?
6 January 1978, New York (NY) Times, pg. B4:
"It is 10 P.M. Parents, do you know where your children are?"
31 March 1979, New York (NY) Times, pg. 21:
When the TV says "it's ten o'clock. Do you know where your children are?" I start asking myself.
16 November 1980, Los Angeles (CA) Times, pg. G3:
"It is 11 o'clock, and there's a curfew in Atlanta. Do you know where your children are?"
4 July 1982, New York (NY) Times, pg. SM10:
This is why I paid no attention at first when that voice coming out of the television set nightly at 10 o'clock said, "It's 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?"
21 May 1984, New York (NY) Times, pg. A17 ad:
Channel 5's community involvement initiated the Jerry Lewis Telethon. It pioneered Focus Spots that cut through racial and economic barriers, giving the public a chance to be heard. It inspired Big Apple Minutes. And raised the question, now echoed in various forms throughout the country, "It's 10PM. Do You Know Where Your Children Are?"
(...)
5
WNEW-TV
FORTY YEARS OF FINE TUNING
METROMEDIA NEW YORK
6 June 1988, New York Times, pg. C18:
Switch on Channel 5
"It's 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?" For nearly 20 years, that question has confronted viewers on Channel 5. It has caught on far beyond New York, sometimes in forms altered by stand-up comedians.
But last April the message changed: "Did you read to your child today?" Some sign of the times? No, the station says. Just a temporary switch, during its public service literacy campaign. The old question is to return next Monday.
30 October 1988, New York (NY) Times, "Mother Takes Envious Look at Chaperoning of 18-Year-Olds" by Evelyn Jackson, pg. WC30:
I especially feel it at night when the Channel 5 announcer asks: It is 10 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?"
1 June 1992, New York (NY) Times, "'The 10 O'Clock News' Gives a Nod to Its Past" by Walter Goodman, pg. C13:
The producers of "The 10 O'Clock News" -- probably most famous for bringing show-business personalities and hopefuls on to declare: "It's 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?" -- take credit for putting forth an "intense," "gritty," "in-your-face" newscast that challenged the establishment or even waged guerrilla war on it.
YouTube
"IT'S 10PM, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE?
tapthatt2012
Published on Mar 7, 2010
A FEW WEEKS AGO, A SHOW RAN A FEW MINUTES OVER ON FOX 5 (NY).
THE ANNOUNCER SAID "IT'S AFTER 10PM,...." I WONDER HOW OFTEN THEY HAVE SAID THAT.
I REMEMBER IT RAN LATE ONCE A FEW MONTHS AGO AND THEY DID'NT SAY IT AT ALL.
(Trademark)
Word Mark IT'S 10 P.M., DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE? 5
Goods and Services (ABANDONED) IC 038. US 104. G & S: TELEVISION BROADCASTING SERVICES. FIRST USE: 19690600. FIRST USE IN COMMERCE: 19690000
Mark Drawing Code (3) DESIGN PLUS WORDS, LETTERS, AND/OR NUMBERS
Design Search Code 02.01.30 - Business suits (men wearing); Men wearing two or three piece business suits
16.01.03 - CB radios; Projection screens (television); Radios; Remote controls, television; Screens, projection; Screens, television; Television sets
Serial Number 73498985
Filing Date September 12, 1984
Current Filing Basis 1A
Original Filing Basis 1A
Owner (APPLICANT) METROMEDIA, INC. CORPORATION DELAWARE ONE HARMON PLAZA SECAUCUS NEW JERSEY 07094
Assignment Recorded ASSIGNMENT RECORDED
Attorney of Record HOWARD C. MISKIN
Type of Mark SERVICE MARK
Register PRINCIPAL
Live/Dead Indicator DEAD
Abandonment Date August 23, 1988