A Letter From the Steering Committee

TRUCE is an organization of early childhood professionals that works to promote a positive play environment for children. We share a concern about how children's entertainment and toys affect behavior and learning. TRUCE produces written materials, such as:

As a small, grassroots organization, we rely on the efforts of concerned professionals and parents to help with the distribution of our materials. We believe that toys should enhance children's natural ability to actively engage in imaginative and meaningful play. Toys should help children work on the central developmental issues of their age and be open-ended enough to allow children to bring in their own ideas and practice creative problem-solving.

We also believe that media, a powerful force in children's lives, has negative effects when it reinforces stereotypes, promotes violence and bombards children with sexually explicit images.

Our mission is to raise public awareness about the harmful influence of unhealthy children's entertainment and to provide parents and educators with information about toys and activities that promote healthy play. We are working to eliminate marketing aimed at exploiting children and to reduce the sale of toys and entertainment that promote violence.

We hope that you will copy and distribute our materials to help spread the word in your community.

TRUCE Steering Commitee:*

  • Diane Levin: Professor of Education, Wheelock College
  • Kathy Roberts: Early Childhood Educator
  • Honey Schnapp: Early Childhood Specialist
  • Marissa Clark: Teacher, Cambridge Ellis School
  • Sarae Pacetta: Adjunct Professor, Boston University
  • Jennifer Ablard: Guidance Counselor Maynard Public Schools
  • Jessica Cable: Teacher, Cambridge Ellis School
  • Donna DiFillippo, Executive Director, Raising a Reader
  • Alexis Ladd, MPH, Teacher, Rivers School

*Institution affiliations are listed for identification purposes only