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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 142 300 PS 009 408 TITLE Seeking Solutions to Violence on Children's Television. INSTITUTION Committee on Children's Television, San Francisco, Calif. PUB DATE Feb 77 NOTE 24p.; Transcripts from a Strategy Workshop (San Francisco, California, May 5,1976) AVAILABLE FROMCommittee on Children's Television, Inc., 1511 Masonic Avenue, San Francisco, California 94117 ($3.50) EDRS PRICE MF-$0.83 Plus Postage. HC Not Available from EDRS. DESCRIPTORS *Action Programs (Community) ;Black Youth; Child Development; *Childrens Television; Fantasy; Play; Television Research; *Television Viewing; *Violence; Workshops IDENTIFIERS *Committee on Childrens Television ABSTRACT This document contains the transcripts from a workshop to investigate strategies to use in dealing with violence on children's television. The papers given by outside experts include: (1) "Effect of Television Violence on Children and Youth" by Michael Rothenberg,(2) "Implications of the Psychological Effects of Television Programming on Black Children" by Carolyn Block, (3) "Towards a More Daring Middle Ground" by Peter Almond, and(4) "The Role of Fantasy and Play in Child Development with Implications for the Current Generation of Television Watchers" by John Sikorski. An article on television violence is also reprinted from the Congressional Record. A final paper by Sally Williams of the Committee on Children's Television addresses the workshop's major thrust: seeking solutions to the problem of violence on children's television. A bibliography, a resource list of organizations, and a list of publications available from the Committee on Children's Television are also inclu4ed--4JM84--- *********************************************************************** Documents acquired by ERIC include many informal unpublished * materials not available from other sources. ERIC makes every effort * * to obtain the best copy available. Nevertheless, items of marginal * * reproducibility are often encountered and this affects the quality * * of the microfiche and hardcopy reproductions ERIC makes available * * via the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS) .EDRS is not * responsible fcr the quality, of the original document. 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Seeking Solutions to Violence on Children's Television Transcripts From a Strategy Workshop, May 5, 1976 Sponsored by The Committee on Children's Television in cooperation with The Northern California Academy of Pediatrics The San Francisco Medical Sociev The San Francisco Mental Health Association San Francisco Committee on Children's Television, Inc. February 1977 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND CREDITS Planning and Publicity Northern California Academy of Pediatrics San Francisco Mental Health Association Facilities San Francisco Medical Society Funding of Production and Distributum ofthe Transcripts San Francisco Foundation Thomas Radecki, M.D. Speakers and Moderators Stephen L. Kaufman. M.D. Michael B. Rothenberg, M.D. Carolyn Block, Ph.D. Henry B. Bruyn, M.D. Dicector, Child Health and Disabihty Pres.entitm San Francisco Peter Almond Paul M. Hirsch, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Univ. of Chicago Visiting Professor, Stanford University Arthur C. Lathan, NISW Affirmative Action Coordinator. San Francisco State University John Sikorski, M.D. George-Ciiiiklin, NI. Div. Assistant Professor Pacific School of Religion Typeseuing and Design Abracadabra Design/Type ©1976 by Committee on Children's Televkion, PF m Ipu1;ok..( c0t,y,..,C0ITED MA TEt BY MICRO (lornmfneef.ICHE ONLY, BEEN on chow-ernnoi_r Television, ,u HON% OPT RAT INI:,0NDER UMENI..,LIIN TETT N. T,01,4 AL INT.,Ti Tr0, EB,r .0N THE:, REITTIOEBIC ,ON THE IC r,ERmr. ,EON cifT.41 O.TINF P Contents Foreword 4 11. Introductory Remarks "Seeking Solutions to Violence on Children's Television" 4 Stephen L. Kou/iiutn 1.D. III. WirksLop Papers "Effect of Television Violence on Children and Youth 5 Maet P. Rothenberg, M.D. "Implications of the Psychological Effects of Telt.,.ision Programming on Black Children 9 Carolyn Block. Ph.D. "Towards a More Daring Middle Ground 11 Peter Alnwnd "The Role of Fantasy and Play in Child Development, with Implications for the Current Generation of T.V. Watcher 15 John B. .%ikorski, IV. Television Violence 17 Congressional Record, Decemher 18. 1975 V Strategies Um Seeking Solutions to Television Violence 19 Sally Williams VI. Bibliography VII. Resource List of Organizations Back Cover VIII.Publications Back Cover . We hut teach Bloody instructions, which. being tau return Introductory Remarks To plague fhe inventor. --William Shakespeare Seeking Solutions to Violence on Children's Television Ys ould like to welcome all of you on behalf of the San Francisco Foreword Medical Society and particularly the Pediatric Section of the Society, on behalf of the Northern California Chapter of the Anwr- The Committee on Children's Television. Inc. is a San Francisco ican Academy of Pediatrics, the San Francisco Mental Health Bay Area non-profit organization established in 1971 by a racially Associatfon and the Commiuee on Children's Television. Your diycrse group of parents and professionak kdicatcd to improving presence is an affirmation of your concern about our children and children's television through an affirmative program of coinniunity ultimately the future of our society. On behalf of children every- participation in broadcasting. where. I would like to thank you for being here today. The organization's focus on Bay. Area projects reflects the fact Organized medicine has long been concerned about the problem that the U.S. Congress, respecting diverse regional needs, placed of abuse. We have succeeded in conjunction with the government the responsibility for television service with local stations. In 1934. and with social agencies in developing a methodology of discover- Congress declared the airwaves a scarce national resource and ing. reporting. and treating child abuse. But physical abuse of chil- established the Federal Communications Commission to regulate dren is only a small portion of the problem. Emotional child abuse is the airwaves in the public interest. To fulfill this mandate. the a much larger and insidious problem for which new strategies of case F.C.C. issues three year licenses to each local station on the con- linding, prevention, and therapy must be devised. Excessive vio- dition that the station is operated in the "interest, taste, needs and lence on television is one aspect of child abuse, and the subject of convenience of the viewers in the station's area of service. The today's discussion. F.C.C. requires station management to maintain on-going.dialogue The purpose of this meeting is to devke strategies that will with the community and to utilize this feedback as a basis for pro- influence producers of childrens T.V.; we AO convince adver- ducing local shows and as a basis for selecting television programs tisers that T.V. has an obligafion not to pander to the lowest tastes of from all sources including the networks. Thus. CCT believes that the public nor to create programs solely to obtain the largest payoff the sustained involvement of the community with local stations is for the advertising dollar. the key to responsive and responsible broadcasting that reflects the These types of policies are crimes in the suites; the executive multi-ethnic cultural interests of Bay Area viewers. suites that control T.V. and will lead to crime in the streets involving The community workshop. SEEKING SOLUTIONS TO our children and ourselves. VIOLENCE ON CHILDREN'S TELEVISION. was organized I do not think that anyone here is an advocate of the amount of by CCT in cooperation with the San Francisco Mental Health gratuitous violence currently programed on commercial television. Association. the Northern California Academy of Pediatrics and the Yet banning violence indiscriminately. would eliminate Hamlet San Francisco Medical Society. to provide Bay Area residents with along with tiojak and Oedipus Rex with the Streets of San the opportunity to discuss the effect of television on children and Erwicisco. We must take great care as we attempt to change the explore the role that television can play to support the growth needs structure of programs devised for children. of children. We must also be careful in our enthusiasm, and in our righteous We are grateful to everyone who participated in the workshop, to indignation, not to create a formal censorship that. while achieving thc distinguished speakers for granting us permission to print their our goal. would do so by depriving us of a cherished heritage, the papers, and to the San Francisco Foundation and Thomas Radecki. freedom of unfettered communication. We must permit our artists to M.D. of Hazard, Kentucky who provided us with the funds to pub- create uninhibitedly, as this is in the best interests of our society: but lish the transcripts. we must oppose the substitution of earnage for quality, of titillating It is our sincere hope thM children in other communities will violence for perception of human relationships. Creating effective benefit from the publication of these transcripts which include stra- strategy to reduce television violence without dMng violence to the tegies for reducing television violence. We urge our readers to share rights of others. is a major aim of this conference. the results of their community projects with us.