This petition is for everyone who has a child in their life that they care about. This petition is for Philippe Dauman, the President and CEO of Viacom, Cyma Zarghami, the President of Nickelodeon, and the rest of Viacom’s senior management.

I have a two year old nephew whom I love very dearly. We live right by the beach in Southern California and I am proud to say he already has a great love of the ocean and the creatures that live there. He also loves watching Nick Jr.

Unfortunately, Viacom (the owner of Nick Jr.) is showing SeaWorld commercials for my nephew and all of the kids who watch Nick Jr. to see. SeaWorld knows that people are realizing the abuses happening in their parks. Running commercials on kid’s channels is an obvious attempt to create future support by targeting the youngest generation, the minds most easily influenced by advertisements.

Kid’s channels are inappropriate venues for controversial issues. For the same obvious reasons Viacom doesn’t air commercials about religion or politics, SeaWorld commercials should be kept away from children’s channels. The kids watching Nick Jr. aren’t old enough to think analytically about the information being presented to them and rely on their parents to teach them about morality. Regardless of what parents may believe about SeaWorld, we agree that a kid’s channel is no place for controversial issues.

As a student at the University of Maryland, I spent this past semester writing over twenty pages of academic research papers exploring dozens of scientific, peer-reviewed sources which highlight the egregious abuses in the captivity industry. The big wigs at SeaWorld clearly care more about money than the welfare of the animals in their care, and are willing to go to any lengths to continue to line their pockets with millions of dollars.  

Many of the most notable marine scientists in the field are vehemently opposed to keeping whales and dolphins in captivity. We cannot provide adequate space or quality living conditions for animals that are not only incredibly intelligent, but also have strong family bonds in the wild. These magnificent creatures swim incredibly long distances daily in the wild while their captive counterparts are forced to swim endless laps around a tiny pool. Wild orcas remain with their mothers for their entire lives. SeaWorld frequently separates mothers and calves, creating false and unhealthy social structures. SeaWorld claims to educate people about these whales but consistently presents misleading and outright false information. Killer whales live much longer in the wild, contrary to what SeaWorld likes to tell their customers.

Philippe Dauman, I applaud your work as the CEO of Viacom - you have led your company to be named to the first ever Civic 50 list! You have demonstrated your commitment to, in your own words, “doing good by doing great, melding social action with our businesses to ensure the growth and prosperity of both.”

Viacom, by showing SeaWorld’s ludicrous commercials on a popular children’s channel, you are allowing them to put a highly controversial message in our children’s minds and bypass the parental authority to decide how our kids should view moral issues. We will not stand for the manipulation of our children as future consumers.  We prefer to teach our children to respect and enjoy nature as it should be – wild and free, not cooped up in a little tank, forced to perform tricks to get food.

Viacom, STOP AIRING ALL SEAWORLD COMMERICALS ON NICK JR. Keep the power to teach kids about controversial issues in the parent’s hands. Our kids love Nick Jr., and as mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and siblings, we appreciate it as a safe and happy channel for the children in our lives to enjoy and learn from. We don’t want to boycott Nick Jr., but we will if it remains polluted by SeaWorld’s lies and continues to show highly controversial messages to our children.

*Image credit: PETA http://www.peta.org/blog/photos-cutest-activists-seaworld-rose-bowl/*