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FCC Media Violence Report on Target With NLC's Call for Increased Parental Controls
by Sherry Conway Appel
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released last week a report on the issue of violent television programming and its impact on children. The FCC recommends that action should be taken to address violent programming in light of its finding that exposure to violence in the media can increase aggressive behavior in children, at least in the short term.
“The report just issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reinforces the importance of protecting our young people from exposure to the type of violence prevalent in most media today — from video games that engage children as active participants in the mayhem to the equally disturbing images of violent acts that come to young viewers through television, films and the Internet,” said NLC President Bart Peterson, mayor of Indianapolis, in a statement about the FCC report. “I am deeply troubled by the culture of violence that pervades all forms of media readily available to youth.”
Earlier this month, NLC held a summit on this issue in Indianapolis, engaging local officials, entertainment industry representatives, parents and national experts on the issue of media violence and its impact on children. NLC sought common ground and identified steps municipal leaders can take to educate parents and their communities on this issue.
Among its findings, the FCC report:
• notes that while viewer-initiated blocking and mandatory ratings would impose lesser burdens on protected speech, and is skeptical that they will fully serve the government’s interests in promoting parental supervision and protecting the well-being of minors.
• believes that the V-chip is of limited effectiveness in protecting children from violent television content.
• observes that cable operator-provided advanced parental controls do not appear to be available on a sufficient number of cable-connected television sets to be considered an effective solution at this time and believes that further action to enable viewer-initiated blocking of violent television content would serve the government’s interests in protecting the well-being of children and facilitating parental supervision and would be reasonably likely to be upheld as constitutional.
• finds that studies and surveys demonstrate that the voluntary TV ratings system is of limited effectiveness in protecting children from violent television content.
• suggests that industry could on its own initiative commit itself to reducing the amount of excessively violent programming viewed by children (e.g., broadcasters could adopt a family hour at the beginning of prime time, during which they decline to air violent content).
• observes that multichannel video programming providers (MVPDs) could provide consumers greater choice in how they purchase their programming so that they could avoid violent programming.
Peterson stated, “The FCC report addresses several issues that deserve careful consideration as we move this critical debate forward, but there is one overriding theme made clear in the report: More must be done to protect our children from the harmful effects of media violence. We don’t have to wait for congressional action or more regulation, however, to make a difference in protecting our kids. Mayors, neighborhood leaders, teachers and others can start now and bring this important topic front and center in their own communities.”
“For the health of our communities and the safety of our children, we as parents and community leaders must act now,” he said.
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