[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 25, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Page S1550]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                        CHILDREN AND TELEVISION

 Mr. SIMON. Mr. President, I would like to insert a statement 
by Keith Geiger in the Congressional Record.
  The statement follows:

               [From the National Education Association]

                   Children, TV, and the Public Good

                           (By Keith Geiger)

       Do you believe that ``Super Mario Brothers,'' the cartoon 
     based on the popular video game, teaches children self-
     confidence? Would you call television broadcasts of ``G.I. 
     Joe,'' ``The Flintstones,'' and ``The Jetsons'' educational 
     programming?
       Welcome to the world of children's television--where these 
     and other equally astounding assertions are made regularly by 
     TV stations applying to the Federal Communications Commission 
     for license renewal. Even more remarkable,the FCC agrees that 
     these programs serve ``the educational and informational 
     needs of children'' as required by the Children's Television 
     Act.
       Here we are, a nation deeply concerned about the lack of 
     values, the level of violence, and the academic achievement 
     of our children and youth. But flip through the channels and 
     Saturday morning or weekday afternoon. You'll find program 
     after program glorifying space-age shoot-em-ups, ninja 
     warriors, brutality and mayhem. Many of the shows are nothing 
     more than promotional vehicles for toys.
       With a very few--immediately obvious--exceptions, 
     television aimed at children is the domain of toy 
     manufacturers. In the words of Shari Lewis of Lamb Chop fame, 
     ``Our kids are very much for sale to the highest bidder.''
       This isn't a new phenomenon. It's the reason the Children's 
     Television Act was passed four years ago. The problem is, 
     this act hasn't changed children's programming. It was 
     written very broadly, and the FCC rules governing its 
     implementation are weak. There's no definition of what 
     constitutes educational programming--or of how much of it a 
     station must provide.
       So ``G.I. Joe'' and ``Super Mario Brothers'' become 
     ``educational.'' And millions of U.S. children watch ``Mighty 
     Morphin Power Rangers,'' which has been taken off the air in 
     Canada and New Zealand because of excessive violence.
       When asked recently to define quality children's 
     television, Shari Lewis replied: ``You must role model for 
     kids the kind of behavior you want. If the intention is to do 
     a program that seduces children to watch through explosions, 
     chases, crashes, verbal and physical hostility, and 
     aggression, I don't care if you tack on a pro-social message 
     at the end of the show.''
       That is exactly what has happened under the Children's 
     Television Act. Broadcasters have produced some so-called 
     educational programs. But what many of these programs do, in 
     the words of a Christian Science Monitor editorial, is to 
     ``hide a smidgen of educational nutrition inside a candy bar 
     of frenetic entertainment.'' And the truth remains that 
     children learn far more from all the action and freneticism 
     than they do from the moralistic words.
       The FCC is currently deciding if it should strengthen the 
     regulations that implement the Children's Television Act. The 
     National Education Association is one of more than a dozen 
     education and children's advocacy organizations urging the 
     Commission to put real teeth into its rules. We want the FCC 
     to define educational programs and to require that stations 
     schedule at least one hour of such programming for children 
     each day. These programs should be of standard length (not 
     announcements or shorts) and be shown between 7 a.m. and 10 
     p.m. (nearly half of educational programs now air between 
     midnight and 6:30 a.m.).
       Given the fact that 70 million children in our country 
     watch an average of four hours of television a day. I'd like 
     to issue a challenge. Let every station agree that from 8 
     a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturdays, all its children's shows will 
     be truly educational. That should take care of any 
     competitive worries. And it would give our children two 
     options: watch an educational show or turn off the TV. 
     Whichever they choose, America wins.
       Television wields immense influence over children. It 
     defines the games they play, the clothes they wear, the way 
     they view their world. It's time we confront the power of 
     this medium and insist that those who profit from it also 
     have a social responsibility to use it to contribute to the 
     public good.
     

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