[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 107 (Friday, August 5, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: August 5, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
               TV MENACE EATS AWAY AT CHILDREN, FAMILIES

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, a longtime friend of mine, Jack 
Mabley, who writes a column for the Daily Herald in suburban Cook 
County, Illinois, and who for many years wrote a column for the Chicago 
Daily News, recently had a column on television that provides insight.
  It is a powerful argument why we have to maintain public television. 
And as many of my colleagues know, I am not pleased that public 
television is increasingly relying on the same commercial interests 
that support commercial television.
  My colleagues have heard me speak often about television violence, 
and the evidence of the harm that has done is overwhelming. I am 
pleased the industry is gradually turning around on entertainment 
television violence, but there is still the overall question of the 
impact it has on each of us and on our culture beyond the grossest 
forms of abuse.
  I ask to insert the Jack Mabley column into the Record at this point.
  The column follows:

               TV Menace Eats Away at Children, Families

       What is the most insidious, most harmful scientific 
     development of this generation? In my opinion, television.
       A good argument can be made for the nuclear bomb, which has 
     the potential for eliminating the human race. I think the 
     bomb is less of a menace because its danger is clearly 
     recognizable, and it is under control. In fact, because of 
     its deterrent value, a third world war may have been avoided.
       The menace of television is not clearly recognized, and 
     television is out of control. The physical means of 
     transmitting television--the air waves--are a national asset, 
     but we have turned this asset over to business people whose 
     objective is to make money.
       I wrote the above three paragraphs 18 years ago, and little 
     has changed except the violence and vulgarity have increased.
       William A. Kelly of Arlington Heights clipped that column 
     and sent me a copy this week with his comment that my 
     premonition now seems like an understatement.
       ``To attack TV now is to undermine the gods of sport, the 
     gladiators, the craze to be entertained--stronger than 
     patriotism,'' said Kelly, a retired circuit court judge.
       The atrophying of the collective brains of families as they 
     sit like mummies in front of the tube every night is bad 
     enough, but the worst tragedy is what television is doing to 
     our children.
       Advertisers pour billions into television because they are 
     convinced the medium influences viewers to buy their 
     products.
       It is difficult to argue that the content between the 
     commercials does not affect the behavior and morals and 
     ethical standards of the viewers, especially the young 
     viewers who are impressionable and imitative.
       And they still spend more time watching television than 
     they spend in school.
       I heard from a family who broke up over television. The 
     mother told me:
       ``The saddest effect is what has been done to family life. 
     Maybe, just maybe, a family can be drawn close together if 
     each member is a video devotee.
       ``Bucking such a family addiction has had its bad effect, 
     and I speak of a firm marriage that would have seen its 
     silver year this year.
       ``My former spouse, whose goodness is unquestioned, got 
     hooked, years ago. That example influenced our children. When 
     `what do we watch?' reached dispute proportions, the solution 
     was yet another TV set.
       ``Piped-in strangers populated our home, each spouting an 
     alien philosophy, in living color.
       ``In an effort to insulate myself from the bombardment, I 
     insulated myself from my family. One day we looked at each 
     other and beheld strangers. It wasn't grounds for divorce, 
     but it was reason enough for me.''
       A few words about technical advancements in TV may be 
     appropriate here.
       The telecasts of World Cup soccer games, where they don't 
     have TV timeouts and play is continuous, popularized (with 
     advertisers) the crawl, that is, the ad that creeps across 
     the bottom of the screen, like the warnings of storms or 
     tornadoes that crawl across local TV screens. Look for more 
     of this commercial intrusion.
       Baseball has sneaked in a new advertising form by placing 
     little billboards behind home plate, where the center field 
     camera will pick them up.
       To counteract this new ad assault, a New York company is 
     selling a device that automatically zaps commercials in taped 
     programs. It will list at $199 starting this month.
       I still rely on the old fashioned way, a zapper at my side 
     for live commercials, and fast forward for taped 
     programs.

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