roundtable: Sense of the Senate on Television Violence

roundtable: Sense of the Senate on Television Violence

Sense of the Senate on Television Violence

Vigdor Schreibman - FINS (fins@access.digex.net)
Fri, 16 Jun 1995 04:07:12 -0400 (EDT) 

Date: Fri, 16 Jun 1995 04:07:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: Vigdor Schreibman - FINS <fins@access.digex.net>
To: tp roundtable - messages <roundtable@cni.org>
Subject: Sense of the Senate on Television Violence
Message-Id: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950616035231.18473A-100000@access4.digex.net>


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FINS SPECIAL REPORT                                        June 16, 1995
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SENSE OF THE SENATE ON TELEVISION VIOLENCE
Simon/Dole Amendment Makes Strong Statement

Washington, DC--Amendment 1349 to the Telecommunication Competition and
Deregulation Act of 1995 [S.652], introduced in the US Senate June 13,
1995, by Sen. Paul Simon (D-IL), and Sen. Robert Dole (R-KS), 
poduced a stunning rebuke to television violence.  The amendment, which 
called for a "Sense of the Senate" statement, provides as follows: 

Sec.  : Findings.

  The Senate finds that:

  Violence is a pervasive and persistent feature of the
entertainment industry.  According to the Carnegie Council
on Adolescent Development, by the age of 18, children will
have been exposed to nearly 18,000 televised murders and 800
suicides.

  Violence on television is likely to have a serious and
harmful effect on the emotional development of young
children.  The American Psychological Asociation has reported
that children who watch "a large number of aggresive
programs tend to hold attitudes and values that favor the
use of aggression to solve conflicts."  The National
Institute of Mental Health has stated similarly that
"violence on television does lead to aggressive behavior by
children and teenagers."

  The Senate recognize that television violence is not the
sole cause of violence in society.

  There is broad recognition in the U.S. Congress that the
television industry has an obligation to police the content
of its own broadcasts to children.  That understanding was
reflected in the Television Violence Act of 1990, which was
specifically designed to permit industry participants to work
together to create a self-monitoring system.

  After year of denying that television violence has any
detrimental effect, the entertainment indutry has begun to
address the problem of television violence.  In the Spring of
1994, for example, the network and cable industries announced
the appointment of an independent monitoring group to assess
the amount of violence on television.  These reports are due
out in the Fall of 1996 and Winter of 1996, respectively.

  The Senate recognizes that self-regulation by the private
sector is generally preferable to direct regulation by the
federal government.

Sec.  : Sense of the Senate.

  It is the Sense of the enate that the entertainment industry
should do everything possible to limit the amount of violence
and aggressive programming, particularly during the hours when
children are most likely to be watching.

                            * * * * *

  After first defeating by a vote of 26 to 73, a motion to
table the amendment offered by Sen. Kent Conrad (R-ND), the
Senate voted on amendment 1349.  This was agreed to by a
vote of 100 to 0.

[141 Cong. Rec. S8250-S9252, daily ed. June 13, 1995].

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