U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, & Transportation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commerce Committee Chairman Daniel K. Inouye released the following statement on The Impact of Media Violence on Children, the topic of a full Committee hearing hosted earlier today.

“Television plays a formidable role in our lives. In the average American household, the television is on more than 8 hours a day. American children watch 28 hours of television programming each week. By the time most children begin the first grade, they will have spent what amounts to three school years in front of the television set.

Television programming can be a tool for enlightenment, education, and discovery. But television programming also can impart more troubling lessons. Too often, for children, these lessons are violent ones.

Based on decades of research, authorities such as the Surgeon General, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have concluded that viewing television violence can lead to increases in aggressive attitudes, values, and behavior in children. More troubling, still, is that despite this conclusion, children today are exposed to more violence on television than ever before. In a survey of primetime programming, a recent study found that between 1998 and 2006, depictions of violence increased by 45 percent in the 8 p.m. “Family Hour.”

Television is a powerful medium, and those who control its programming have powerful responsibilities. Given the problem of television violence and the harm that can come from children viewing this violence, I hope we can encourage parents, industry, and government to act together to lessen children’s exposure to television violence.

I would like to thank Senator Rockefeller for his leadership on this issue. I look forward to the testimony from today’s witnesses.”

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Public Information Office: 508 Dirksen Senate Office Bldg • Washington, DC 20510-6125
Tel: 202-224-5115
Hearing Room: 253 Russell Senate Office Bldg • Washington, DC 20510-6125
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