PTA Applauds FCC: Children Need Protection, Parents Need Tools

PTA believes exposure to violent content in television must be curtailed and parents must be given the necessary tools to protect their children. PTA applauds the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for their strong stance on the harmful impact of violent television programming on children. More than 1,000 studies, including reports from the Surgeon General’s office, the National Institute of Mental Health, and other medical and public health organizations, point to a correlation between media violence and aggressive attitudes and behavior, particularly among children.

Those in the television industry have had years to make self-regulation work, and they have not. PTA prefers to see the television industry self-regulate by introducing blocking technology that can be easily incorporated with existing televisions and simple to program. We would also favor broadcasters and cable providers working with public interest groups to develop a comprehensive, easily recognizable and understood rating system with guidelines applied across all network and cable stations. However, if the television industry cannot make a dramatic turnaround with concrete benchmarks that demonstrate progress quickly, Congress is fully justified in stepping in.

For more than a decade, the television industry has been making promises that they have not kept including curtailing the direct marketing of violence to children and providing parents with more tools to protect their children. Studies show, however, that portrayals of violence have become more violent and are being shown to younger audiences.

Additionally, though Congress required that beginning in 2000 all new television sets 13 inches and greater in size include a V-chip, less than half of the TV sets in American households are capable of blocking content that is not suitable for children and an astonishing 88 percent of parents do not use the V-chip or a cable blocking device.

The television industry has failed to do their part in protecting the nation’s children. The current rating system falls far short of what consumers deserve and parents require. Recent studies show that the ratings are not applied consistently among individual networks’ programming, let alone between networks. Furthermore, the industry’s recently launched multi-million dollar public awareness campaign, was undertaken solely to ward off government regulation, and fails to adequately inform parents of the tools available.

Regardless of options in channel choice, without effective tools including blocking technology and a high-quality, industry wide rating system, parents will continue to struggle to protect their children from exposure to violent content.

For more information, read PTA's Issues page on Mass Media.