I'm sure that we can all agree that, as a national community, we have a collective responsibility to ensure that our children are given the best possible foundation for success. After all, our children are our future. For better or for worse, television is one of the dominant forces in our children's lives. It is a singularly pervasive, persuasive, and powerful medium. Children watch an average of 27 hours of television a week.
Television can educate, illuminate, and entertain.
It can also annoy, pollute, and debase. I won't focus on the issue of violence on television. I do want to offer a brief comment on the proliferation of trashy talk shows which air during hours that kids are home from school. For a while, reading a synopsis of the day's talk show topics in the TV listings was akin to reading a tickler list for perversion and promiscuity. The public sounded the alarm for producers and station owners to take greater responsibility for the product they produce and air.