FREE TV PROGRAMMING

RE: MB Docket No. 04-261; In the Matter of Violent Television Programming and Its Impact on Children

We respectfully submit our petition to the FCC in reference to MB Docket No. 04-261 and in response to advocacy groups that are requesting government regulation that will selectively forbid and restrict TV programs like Dexter, thereby impinging on First Amendment Rights.

As citizens of the United States, we understand the need to protect our children from exposure to violence. However, we feel that this responsibility begins and lies at home. As aforementioned in ACLUs comments to the FCC regarding this issue, it was stated that "[m]ost researchers and investigators agree that exposure to media violence alone does not cause a child to commit a violent act, and that it is not the sole, or even the most important, factor in contributing to youth aggression, anti-social attitudes, and violence" and that "[b]roader research into the causes of youth violence has identified interacting risk factors, such as genetic, psychological, familial, and socioeconomic characteristics.

Todays technological advances provide useful and inexpensive tools, such as the V-chip, for parents to control the exposure of TV violence to their children. Many advocacy groups claim that the V-chip campaign was a failure. However, they fail to recognize that this failure was not due to the inefficacies of technology, but rather due to the failure of implementing and using the technology by parents.

The TV industry has spent $550 million to educate parents on the use of V-chip. However, despite this campaign, in a report by the Ad Council, it is reported that of all parents who have access to the V-chip, only 15\% actually utilize it.

We, the undersigned, wish to show our opposition for the campaign for government intervention and regulation over Television Programming. We ask that First Amendments Rights are preserved and as Caroline Fredrickson of the ACLU stated, The government should not place parents as decision makers in Americas living rooms. Alternatively, instead of government regulation over TV programming, we propose that government regulation which enforces the use of readily available technology by parents would prove to be a more practical and effective method.