CONSIDERING POLICIES TO PROTECT CHILDREN FROM TV VIOLENCE

For decades, lawmakers have been debating what they can do to protect children from the harmful effects of violence on television. The debat e has intensified recently with three major proposals: (a) to require manufacturers to install a V-chip into all new televisions so parents can program their sets, thus preventing their children from being expo sed to violence; (b) to require television programmers to display a vi olence rating for each program; and (c) to limit the showing of violen t programs to ''safe harbors'' when children are not viewing. In the w inter of 1996, Congress passed the Telecommunication Competition and D eregulation Act, which, among other things, adopted the first two prop osals. We argue that the thinking behind each of these proposals is fu ndamentally flawed.