From:      <scalleg1@ic3.ithaca.edu>
To:        A16.A16(kidstv)
Date:      10/13/95 5:08pm
Subject:   Violence in television

Honorable Commissioners;

     The current quality of television programming may be harmful
to  child viewers, if not properly regulated or monitored. 
Various studies  have shown that there is a direct link between
violence on television and  aggressive, violent attitudes of
children.  The article, "Sex, violence,  and the TV set," in the
January 1993 issue of Parent's Magazine states,  "there is a
correlation between the viewing of violent material and 
aggressive behavior-regular viewers behave more aggressively than 
occasional ones."  A prime example of television's violent
content on  children is the November 1994 conviction of two
eleven year old boys in  Liverpool, England.  The two boys
abducted and killed a two year old  child.  Part of the blame was
directed towards the boys' exposure to  violent videos.

     There may be some valid strategies in deterring the problem, 
however.  One being disclaimer laws.  Some television programs
display a  warning of their content before they are aired. 
Usually these warnings  appear before programs that contain
excessive violence, nudity, foul  language, and other scenes of
adult oriented nature.  However, this is  not enough.  Warnings
should be posted on all programs consisting of  unsuitable matter
for children.  Therefore, the parental authority of the 
household can determine whether the program is appropriate for
the child,  before it even starts.  These warnings should even
appear on shows that  are aired late at night.  Stricter
regulations of this sort should be  enforced as soon as possible. 
Children need positive role models and  entertainment in order to
reveal the positive sides of themselves.  Not  enough attention
is given to them as far as programming is concerned.   The
children are the future of society.  Therefore, programming
should  depict more positive societal scenes, rather than the
negative aspects of  society which it more commonly focuses on. 
They need to be given the  incentive to play an equitable role in
their communities.  

     The National Cable Association recognizes this problem and
has been  developing a plan that would permit parents to scramble
television shows  that they do not want their children to watch. 
Presently, there is a  different device out on the market that
curbs the time that the child is  allowed to watch television. 
It is called a "TV Allowance Box."  When  the time that the
parent allots for the child to watch television is  up, the set
automatically shuts off.  This device also has the ability  to
enforce a video blackout at certain times of the day, when a
parent  knows a program she dissaproves of is on.

     Therefore, I propose thet stronger laws be made concerning
the  quality of programming to protect younger viewers. 
Television can have a  powerful effect on children, and that
effect should be positive.  If we  want to make this world a
safer and more desirable place to live in, we  have to start by
showing children programs that exhibit moral virtues.   It is
valid to argue that it will improve the behavior and attitudes of 
kids, just as it has been argued that the current violence in
television  contributes to their aggressive behavior.  If parents
are not satisfied  at present, however, they can control their
child's television viewing  with devices such as the "TV
Allowance Box."

                
 

                                                        
Sincerely yours,
                                                         Staci
Callegari
                                                         319
Clarke Hall
                                                         Ithaca
College
                                                         Ithaca,
N.Y. 
                                                        
14850-7220    


CC:        scalleg1 <scalleg1@ic3.ithaca.edu>