From: To: A16.A16(kidstv) Date: 9/5/95 12:50pm Subject: Educational programming mandates I appreciate your call for feedback on requiring educational programming commitments by broadcasters as a condition for license renewal. I think it's a great idea. We've already seen what the result is when we allow market forces to determine what is shown on TV: I'd throw out my television before I'd let my kids watch most of it. My suggestion would be an hour of programming appropriate for preschoolers in the morning, and an hour of programming appropriate for school-age children in the afternoon (whatever happened to the ABC Afterschool Specials?). I'd also like to suggest tough, specific, across-the-board standards regulating the content of programs scheduled from 3 to 5 P.M., when older children and teens are most likely to be at home unsupervised. I know anti-regulatory types would scream about this, but the venereal disease and teenage pregnancy rates in our country indicate that our teens are hearing a lot about the fun of sexual activity and not so much about the responsibilities that go along with it--a lot of it, probably, from afternoon soap operas and talk shows. (I work full-time, so I don't really know firsthand what's on these shows, but what I've heard is making me plan to forbid my daughter from watching any TV at all when she's old enough to stay home after school.) I hope you hear from a lot of other parents about this. I do not advocate censorship, but I think we could all stand to think a little harder about what the programming on TV is telling our kids. Sincerely, Catherine Sprankle 4835 Radcliff Rd. Raleigh, NC 27609