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The FCC Wants To Kill Your TVIn the name of saving your children.

By Jack Shafer
Posted Thursday, April 26, 2007, at 6:32 PM ET

(Continued from page 1)

The only reason broadcasts are "pervasive" is because the government, which sets the technical standards for broadcasters and TV sets, has made them so. Cable television, on the other hand, isn't pervasive. You've got to invite it into your house. Want to avoid it? Stop paying for it. Cable, therefore, escapes the Supreme Court's decency standards, which would leave one to expect the FCC to exclude cable from its regulation of media violence discussion. But no. The report suggests that viewers be given the option of subscribing to an "a la carte" selection of cable TV channels, instead of bundled channels, as a strategy for keeping violent programs out of the home. Presumably, mandated a la carte would put the FCC back in the business of determining cable TV rates. Imagine that, a federal agency keen on increasing its oversight powers!

Before we even think of expanding the FCC's regulatory powers, we need a better study of the effects of violence on children than this report offers. In its review of the literature, the report concludes, "We agree with the views of the Surgeon General and find that, on balance, research provides strong evidence that exposure to violence in the media can increase aggressive behavior in children, at least in the short term." [Emphasis added.] A clear and present danger, this is not.

Not all media violence is created equal, an obvious observation that David Trend offers in his thorough book The Myth of Media Violence. Is the violence on-screen or off? What type of character committed the violence, and why? What are the consequences of the violence? Is the violence justified? Does it cause pain or suffering? Does the violent character reap his just rewards? Do we sympathize with the victim? Who is the intended audience? Is computer-generated movie violence more abhorrent than violence produced with conventional effects? Is it "burlesque violence" or "retaliatory violence"? Is animal-on-animal violence to be avoided? How about violence on the news? Is mock violence that is inspired by a TV show violence, too? Professional boxing: violence or sport?

Trend notes that every media age brings forth violent entertainments that both repulse and attract. "Victorian-era street theater and penny novels were thought to encourage misbehavior among the working poor, especially young men in urban areas." Gangster movies in the 1930s were said to increase violence, as were comic books in the 1950s. Rap music and video games, likewise, have been accused of teaching kids to kill, although crime statistics don't support that assertion.

Anybody who has children—or was once a child—won't flippantly dismiss the question of whether TV violence is an issue worthy of study and debate. But be wary of people, especially people in government, who would upend adult rights with proposals couched in the language of protecting children. The only way to protect children from every possible injury is to infantilize our world.

Never mind the problem of TV violence for a moment. Please protect me from the solutions.

******

If government policies make the Internet "pervasive," should we enlist the FCC to regulate its content, lest children be exposed to ugly and disturbing things? Hit me with your best shot at . (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent disclosure: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.)

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Jack Shafer is Slate's editor at large.
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