Do you know where your children are?

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For the Michael Jackson song, see Xscape (album).

"Do you know where your children are?" is a popular question used as a public service announcement (PSA) for parents on American television. Its heyday was throughout the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, but has made a comeback as of late.[when?] The question is usually asked around 10:00 PM or 11:00 PM, depending on the market and the time of the local youth curfew, usually before the station's late-evening newscast. The phrase originated from Buffalo, New York's long-time ABC affiliate WKBW, and was possibly inspired by the Scottish bedtime story, "Wee Willie Winkie".

WKBW news director Irv Weinstein is said[by whom?] to have begun using the phrase at the beginning of his career in the early 1960s, at the suggestion of a local viewer. WKBW used the phrase until 2003, and again from 2008 through 2014.

Besides being used on WKBW, the question became the long-running slogan of New York City TV station (and eventual Fox affiliate) WNYW, which often had celebrities saying it on camera just before the news; some other stations owned by Fox and Tribune Broadcasting also use the phrase. In 2007, WDIV in Detroit started using the phrase at the beginning of its 11 o'clock newscasts. WTXF-TV FOX29 in Philadelphia also uses the phrase at the beginning of its 10 o'clock newscast.

WISH-TV in Indianapolis began airing a PSA package in August 2014 with IMPD police chief Richard Hite asking "It's eleven o'clock do you know where your kids are?" before the start of the 11 PM news.


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