    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1996, Book II)]
    [July 29, 1996]
    [Pages 1216-1219]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks at the Children's Television Conference
    July 29, 1996

        The President. Good morning. We're delighted to see all of you here
    for this historic meeting. A lot of you have come a long way, some of
    you on the red-eye, and I appreciate the efforts you've made to be here.
        We're here for a clear purpose: to improve and expand educational
    television for our children. The ability of the United States to make
    the 21st century the age of greatest possibility in our Nation's history
    depends in no small measure on our ability to build strong families
    today; to help our parents to succeed not only in the workplace but in
    their most important job, raising good, well-educated, well-balanced,
    successful children.
        That is why we have worked so hard to give our families more control
    over one of the most influential forces in our Nation, television. As
    all of you know better than I, it is now a major part of our national
    landscape. A typical child watches 25,000 hours of television before his
    or her 18th birthday. Preschoolers watch 28

    [[Page 1217]]

    hours of television a week, and at least during the Olympics, so do
    Presidents. [Laughter]
        We have dedicated ourselves to giving parents the power to screen
    out television they believe their children should not see. That's what
    the V-chip was all about. I was proud to sign the telecommunications law
    with the V-chip requirement to give parents the ability to stop
    programming that they think is inappropriate for their young children to
    see.
        You in the entertainment industry have certainly been doing your
    part. Meeting here in the White House 5 months ago, you volunteered to
    rate shows for content. You came together as responsible corporate
    citizens to give America's families an early-warning system. Parents who
    use the V-chip will now be able to block objectionable shows before it's
    too late.
        Together these initiatives constitute an invaluable arsenal for
    America's parents. And I'd also like to point out that this is a
    challenge being met in the appropriate way by people working together
    and coming together, not fighting and drifting apart.
        But that is only half the battle. As Americans we have to define
    ourselves not simply by what we stand against, but more importantly by
    what we stand for. Now we have the opportunity to use the airwaves for
    something positive, educational programming as great as our kids.
    Television can be a strong and positive force. It can help children to
    learn. It can reinforce rather than undermine the values we work so hard
    to teach our children, showing children every day what it means to
    share, to respect themselves and others, to take responsibility for
    their actions, to have sympathy with others who have difficulties, even
    to recognize that ``it's not easy being green.''
        This morning I would like to hear from you about what we can do to
    broaden the range of quality educational programming for children. I
    hope we can focus on three specific issues. First, I'd like to talk
    about the new research that shows how kids can learn valuable lessons
    from TV over the course of their young lifetimes. Second, I'd like to
    find out more about what good shows look like. Third, I'd like us to
    talk about how we can break down the barriers to the development and
    production of quality educational programming for children.
        Before we begin, I would like to make an announcement. For the past
    year I've been calling upon the Federal Communications Commission to
    require broadcasters to air a minimum of 3 hours of genuine educational
    programming a week--3 hours a week, 180 minutes a week, about 2\1/2\
    percent of the entire schedule. Such a requirement would halt a steep
    and troubling decline.
        As recently as the early eighties, the three major networks aired
    several hours more than that of children's educational and informational
    shows. But by 1990, they were down to 2 hours a week or less than 2
    hours a week. The number is inching up now, but we must do more. The
    airwaves that broadcasters use, after all, belong to all of us. And in
    exchange for their use, broadcasters are required to serve the public
    interest. I cannot imagine anything that serves the public interest more
    than seeing to it that we give our children at least 3 hours of
    educational television a week.
        That's why it gives me great pleasure to announce that the four
    major networks, the National Association of Broadcasters, and some of
    the leading advocates for educational television have come together to
    join me in supporting a new proposal to require broadcasters to air 3
    hours of quality educational programming a week. This proposal fulfills
    the promise of the Children's Television Act, that television should
    serve the educational and informational needs of our young people. It
    gives broadcasters flexibility in how to meet those needs. And it says
    to America's parents, you are not alone; we are all committed to working
    with you to see that educational programming for your children makes the
    grade. I urge the FCC to adopt this proposal to make the 3-hour rule the
    law of the land. Television can build up young lives rather than tear
    them down.
        I'd like to say a particular word of thanks to Congressman Ed Markey
    for his work on this issue and a very special word of appreciation to
    the Vice President for his tireless efforts, along with Greg Simon, to
    bring about this agreement. I thank them very, very much. Today we can
    work to imagine television as a force for good, to imagine what
    television for children would look like if it resembled what we imagined
    it was when we were children or when you first got started in this
    business.
        In recent days, as families have gathered to watch the Olympics, we
    have all been reminded about the good that television can bring into our
    homes, how it can bring us together, how

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    it can inspire and educate us. This should be our standard. I'm anxious
    now to get to work.
        And I'd like to invite three people to come up here for some
    comments of their own about the agreement that has been reached: Eddie
    Fritts, the president of the National Association of Broadcasters; Les
    Moonves, the president of CBS Entertainment; Peggy Charren, the founder
    of Action for Children's Television.
        Peggy, Les, Eddie, would you come up.

    [At this point, Mr. Fritts, Mr. Moonves, and Ms. Charren made brief
    remarks.]

        The President. The first subject we're going to talk about is the
    influence of television on children. We have some good presentations
    here. I would like to call on the First Lady to begin.

    [Hillary Clinton introduced conference participants and moderated a
    panel discussion on the influence of television on children.]

        The President. Thank you very much. I think, to stay on schedule, we
    need to move to the next topic. It's clear that there's a consensus here
    and that the evidence supports the fact that television can be, has
    been, and is in many cases a positive force in children's lives. So I
    think we ought to discuss a little bit about what makes a successful
    children's television program. And I'd like to ask Mrs. Gore to lead the
    discussion, and I'll turn it over to her now.

    [Tipper Gore introduced additional conference participants and moderated
    a panel discussion on developing children's programming.]

        Mrs. Gore. Now, Mr. President, we've finished with this particular
    part of the program and would like your comments.
        The President. First of all, I love this. I wish we had all day to
    listen to you all talk about this.
        We want to talk now about whether there are barriers to more and
    better children's programs and, if so, what they are. And I guess I
    would like to begin by welcoming the advertisers that are here and
    thanking them for their commitment to this announcement we've made today
    and to this cause generally. I thought what Ms. Laybourne said about
    being a worrier--a lot of the things she said I thought were quite on
    point. And I think that the role of advertisers in sort of changing the
    whole look of how we approach this issue could be quite critical. So I'm
    delighted that you're here.
        And we're now going on to a section about how we should define and
    recognize and then deliver quality on these programs and what barriers
    there are and how we would go about taking them down. And so I'm going
    to call on the Vice President to take over the last section.

    [Vice President Gore introduced additional conference participants and
    moderated a panel discussion on impediments to developing children's
    programming.]

        The President. Let me thank all of you, first of all, for coming.
    And those of you who participated in this historic agreement, I'm very
    grateful to you. You have done a good thing for your country today.
        I do not want to leave us on a down note, but I want to put this in
    the context of what I think the real stakes are of what we're discussing
    here. And I leave you with this thought, a challenge to think about
    another barrier that has nothing to do with the production of the
    programs or even getting advertising, which is how are you going to get
    these programs to the kids that need to see them the most, the kids that
    are most at risk in our society, and how are you going to reach their
    parents?
        And I want to just ask you to think about these two facts. One is,
    while we are, at least inside our administration, we are very happy that
    the crime rate has gone down for 4 years in a row in America--it's a
    wonderful thing, 4 years in a row of a dropping crime rate--the rate of
    random violence among people between the ages of 12 and 17 is going up.
    Cocaine use has dropped by a third, but the rate of random drug use
    among people between the ages of 12 and 17 has been going up since 1991.
    Fact one.
        Second thing. When school starts this fall, 51.7 million children
    will enroll in schools. And it's the first time since I, the oldest of
    the baby boomers--since the baby boomers were fully in school that there
    has been a class of schoolchildren bigger than the baby boom generation,
    which means we have a few years to turn these trends around or reap a
    whirlwind from it.
        Basically, if you look at all the aggregate statistics in our
    country, it seems that most things are moving in the right direction
    after years of being troubled. But there are just so many

    [[Page 1219]]

    of these kids out here that are either virtually raising themselves; or
    their parents--almost all of whom, I believe, would like to do a good
    job--they want to do a good job, but they're not sure how they should do
    it. So one huge barrier here that we have not discussed because it's
    sort of beyond our purview--but that a lot of you who are brilliant at
    marketing things to people and reaching people--is how do you reach the
    parents?
        You know, I had a pretty good education, but I learned a lot because
    Chelsea was into ``Sesame Street'' and ``Where in the World Is Carmen
    San Diego?'' When I met the co-leaders of San Marino at the Olympics, I
    knew where it was because Chelsea got me into ``Where in the World
    Is''--[laughter]--not because I had a degree from the foreign service
    school at Georgetown. I'm just saying, how do we reach the parents? This
    is a serious issue.
        And secondly, if you cannot reach the parents, is there some way to
    reach the kids anyway? We're trying to give schools more funds, for
    example, to open early and stay open late. Is there some way to redirect
    the programs in there so that--and work with the schools so that they
    will show the programs to the kids in the after-school area. You really
    need to think about this because the kids that need what you're doing
    the most may have barriers that we haven't even discussed today.
        I want to make one last point. I think it would be very good for the
    adults of this country, including all of us who work in the White House,
    if Mr. Rogers' poem could be read once a week on primetime television.
        Thank you, and God bless you all.

    Note: The President spoke at 10 a.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Geraldine Laybourne, president,
    Disney/ABC Cable Network; and Fred Rogers, host, ``Mr. Rogers'
    Neighborhood.''