From: To: A16.A16(kidstv) Date: 10/14/95 9:02pm Secretary: Fcc As america moves more and more towards a information society we use television as a means of getting information as well as a form of entertainment. Television plays a major role in the lives of many young children in america today. Because television plays such a big role with children,it is important that the viewers see less violence and see more shows concerning education. "The average preschool child (ages two to five) watches about 28 hours (of television) a week, and the average school-age child (ages six to eleven) watches about 24 hours per week. (Lazar, 67/Nielsen Media Research,1990) This fact alone shows us that the impact of television on children is enormous. With parents spending about 40 percent less time with their children than they did twenty years ago, (Lazar,68/ Mattox,1991) the role of television is an even more important part of every day lif for children today. Unfortunately the majority of children's broadcasting is situated around violence and does not support structure and well being. Violence is so apparent in television today that "The average child ages four to eight in one year watched 250 episodes of war-related cartoons and more than 1,000 thirty second commercials selling war toys" (Lazar,68/"Viewpoint Forum,"1987) We can see that some of the social problems apparent today can be linked back to the kind of everyday programming which is on television. What is so badly needed is educational programming that supports structure and influences values that were once given by parents in a time where T.V. did not play such a large role in our lives. One of the main reasons that educational programming has not become a major influence in the television market is because educational programming will not draw the sam kind of advertisers that cartoon "action heroes" can draw. Some children's cartoons have served as almost a half hour commercial. A good example of this is when the cartoon "He-Man" came out in 1983. The He-Man toys were3 the second best selling product in the industry and made over one billion dollars in licensed product sales(Lazar,70/Kunkel,1998). Because merchandise from cartoon action shows sell so well, the companies that make the toys for these shows will pay the television networks big mony for air time. Educational programming has had so much trouble surviving over the years because it does not have the same kind of support that the action cartoons have. If the programs that support education could find interesting charicters and ideas, some advertisers might fund these programs. The need for educational programming is so important that we can no longer just allow the major television networks as well as the local television stations to choose whether or not they air shows supporting education. In the past, bills have been passed attempting to regulate the programming being seen by children. The problem with these bills is that they still allowed the T.V. station to make their own decisions on what was appropriate programming. What must be down is that the FCC needs to regulate the television stations very closely and make very specific guidelines as to what is educational programming and what is a half hour commercial. If the FCC can make the major networks put on more educational programs, it will benefit the children of today as well as tomorrow. Scott Rappaport Ithaca College 114 Lyon Hall Ithaca, N.Y. 14851-7221 CC: FCCMAIL.SMTP("massmedia@liber.ithaca.edu")