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As Dr. Robert Phillips of the American Psychiatric
Association explained, "Children are like little VCRs, they see
something once and then they repeat it over and over again.
I know this not just from experts and news accounts, but
from children themselves. At a roundtable discussion about the
V-chip and TV violence with children and their parents, some of
whom were PTA members, I met a 10-year old boy who told me that
his playmates "just pretend they are Mighty Morphin Power Rangers
or the X-Men and then they'll just go around pretending they're
killing each other or such things and think nothing of it.'
Producers and broadcasters of shows like the "Mighty Morphin
Power Rangers" say that they are simply giving children what they
want to watch. In truth, they are appealing to the worst in our
kids at the very times they are most likely to be watching TV.
And, broadcasters are hiding the best children's programming in
the least-watched "throw-away" hours.
We must stop showing violent, harmful programs to our kids
during prime viewing hours. It is time for our media executives
to show some greater responsibility for the children of America.
And as adults and as parents it is time for us to stand up
and be counted. Decency and civility are values that are
critical to the functioning of our society. Otherwise, in the
absence of efforts to reach out to one other to teach each other
good and positive lessons about how we work together and about
how children grow up together, we will find ourselves and our
children so inured to violence and sensationalism that we will
not be able to help themselves.
We have enough evidence now from psychological and
educational studies which shows that children, particularly from
less stable homes, without the kind of structure that many of us
have tries to impose, despite the media in our own houses, these
children are particularly vulnerable to such messages. And they
take those messages to heart. Like those little VCR's and they
play back what they have learned.
As parents we cannot wait to act. We are on the front
lines. We have to take responsibility, we have to start in our
own homes by making clear what is and what is not acceptable
television watching. We have to be willing to work with our
schools as you have done to help families learn how to watch
television critically, and to raise questions so that children
know the difference between fantasy and reality. We have to give
children something else to do besides watch television hour after
hour after hour.
In many neighborhoods we should be working to keep schools
open from three to six so that children are not on their own and
unsupervised. We should be enlisting ourselves once again in
programs, not only to mentor young people but to play with them,
more recreational activities. We should take a stand against the
6
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"ocrText": "As Dr. Robert Phillips of the American Psychiatric\nAssociation explained, \"Children are like little VCRs, they see\nsomething once and then they repeat it over and over again.\nI know this not just from experts and news accounts, but\nfrom children themselves. At a roundtable discussion about the\nV-chip and TV violence with children and their parents, some of\nwhom were PTA members, I met a 10-year old boy who told me that\nhis playmates \"just pretend they are Mighty Morphin Power Rangers\nor the X-Men and then they'll just go around pretending they're\nkilling each other or such things and think nothing of it.'\nProducers and broadcasters of shows like the \"Mighty Morphin\nPower Rangers\" say that they are simply giving children what they\nwant to watch. In truth, they are appealing to the worst in our\nkids at the very times they are most likely to be watching TV.\nAnd, broadcasters are hiding the best children's programming in\nthe least-watched \"throw-away\" hours.\nWe must stop showing violent, harmful programs to our kids\nduring prime viewing hours. It is time for our media executives\nto show some greater responsibility for the children of America.\nAnd as adults and as parents it is time for us to stand up\nand be counted. Decency and civility are values that are\ncritical to the functioning of our society. Otherwise, in the\nabsence of efforts to reach out to one other to teach each other\ngood and positive lessons about how we work together and about\nhow children grow up together, we will find ourselves and our\nchildren so inured to violence and sensationalism that we will\nnot be able to help themselves.\nWe have enough evidence now from psychological and\neducational studies which shows that children, particularly from\nless stable homes, without the kind of structure that many of us\nhave tries to impose, despite the media in our own houses, these\nchildren are particularly vulnerable to such messages. And they\ntake those messages to heart. Like those little VCR's and they\nplay back what they have learned.\nAs parents we cannot wait to act. We are on the front\nlines. We have to take responsibility, we have to start in our\nown homes by making clear what is and what is not acceptable\ntelevision watching. We have to be willing to work with our\nschools as you have done to help families learn how to watch\ntelevision critically, and to raise questions so that children\nknow the difference between fantasy and reality. We have to give\nchildren something else to do besides watch television hour after\nhour after hour.\nIn many neighborhoods we should be working to keep schools\nopen from three to six so that children are not on their own and\nunsupervised. We should be enlisting ourselves once again in\nprograms, not only to mentor young people but to play with them,\nmore recreational activities. We should take a stand against the\n6"
}