It's a far cry from our true cultural legacy, now commercially eclipsed, that inspired children with ideals, arts and public models so different from today's celebrities. While desensitized adults go their merry way in the cultural madness, children endure its inconsistencies with little help from elders. Picture teens and pre-teens, for example, trying to comprehend an adult world that dotes on violence as entertainment and then reacts with fury when that obsession spills over into real life. Perhaps it's forgivable that our half-century love affair with television has blinded us to its abuses. The air waves are a public resource, not a corporate bonanza.
Citizens have a right and a duty to insist on fair and honest stewardship.
We must press the Federal Communications Commission to assist us in the pursuit of sound policy changes. Meanwhile, schools could do some damage control with age-appropriate courses in critical viewing. Kathleen B. Lynch, of Wilmington, is a founding member of the Cultural Environment Movement in Philadelphia.