MEDIA, CHILDREN, AND VIOLENCE - A PUBLIC-POLICY PERSPECTIVE

Pediatrician advocacy concerning the impact of television violence on children should be clearly grounded in the holistic concern of pediatr icians with children's health and well-being. Pediatricians should not promote legislative or regulatory efforts to reduce children's exposu re to television violence by proscribing certain kinds of program cont ent. Instead, priority should be given to strategies that improve the content and qualify of television programming viewed by children and t hat enhance the viewing choices made by children and their families. S uch strategies include providing parent education and pressing for str ong implementation of the Children's Television Act. Pediatricians sho uld dedicate their efforts to increasing the awareness of broadcasters and the general public, acting as educators and persuaders. In order to advocate and educate effectively, pediatricians need to amplify the ir own knowledge and understanding of television-related issues and th eir significance. Finally, because children's exposure to television v iolence is but one part of a larger social context, pediatricians conc erned with this issue should devote significant attention to related p roblems that diminish the health and well-being of children.