From: MR PHILLIP R HEIL To: A16.A16(kidstv) Date: 10/29/95 1:38am Subject: Kid's TV Act of '90 -- [ From: Phil Heil * EMC.Ver #2.5.03 ] -- Dear Chairman Hundt, I truly believe that children's TV is a dreadful waste of time and does absolutely no justice to children and only serves the advertisers. "Get them hooked on our products and we'll have customers for life." No thank you!!! The content of the majority of programs, with few exceptions, "Beakman's World" for example, is totally without any "socially redeeming value." Sound familiar? Obscenity is where you find it. If the violence and stereotypes that are shoveled in the direction of children on Saturday mornings is not obscene I would really like to know what really fits the definition. I've suffered through a few Saturday mornings with my 6 year old doing research on the subject and was really disturbed. Most of the shows show no imagination in the development of the story, have really no message, and don't teach the kids a damn thing plus the animation is really bad. Like a comic book with a little added motion. I'm a computer salesman. My present employer has certified me to sell only computers and related equipment. I'm perfectly happy with that because there is whole lot of interactivity with a computer and you can go where you want to go. Not just sit there and mindlessly watch whatever is presented. You ARE in control, not some faceless corporation that really "knows what you want." My previous employer allowed me the run of the store. The one area that I didn't frequent was the TV department unless somebody specifically asked for help there. I sometimes felt like a drug dealer when I sold a TV! "Here kid, this one's free, just watch this for a while, you'll really like it." I had one customer that wanted me to recommend a TV he could purchase for his daughter. I asked him how old she was, thinking it was for a college dorm room or some such, he told me she was 7!! I did my job and sold him a 13" TV. But in the back of my mind I felt like telling him to spend the money on books! If nothing else the child would develop an imagination instead of passively accepting whatever was dumped on her from the tube. Since TV is a fact of life and it won't go away the next best thing is to insure that some of the programming will stimulate and educate children. The Republicans are so hell bent on looking so good for the next election by "balancing the budget" and keeping their advertised word about passing all the articles they proposed in "The Contract on America" they seem to have forgotten about investing in the future (education, health care, the environment, and scientific research). I guess their idea of long range planning is 6 years at the most, or however long their elected term happens to be. They seem to have forgotten that the average life span these days is about 70 years or so. But what do they care if the people don't have the tools they need to live a good life. "Hey, I've been re-elected for 5 terms." And I'll bet that most of the election exposure they got was on TV. Strange thing about that, isn't it? Don't let the barbarians screw up one of our most precious resources, our children! Sincerely yours, Phil Heil mkpf19a@prodigy.com 491 Bethlehem Pike D-1 Ft. Washington, Pa. 19034