The following is a statement by Children Now regarding FCC Commissioner Adelstein’s speech today at the Media Institute, where he outlined his proactive agenda to improve the media environment for our nation’s children:

“We applaud Commissioner Adelstein’s speech today at the Media Institute in Arlington, VA in which he outlined his proactive agenda to improve the media environment for our nation’s children.

“Commissioner Adelstein has been a long-time champion for children and we greatly appreciate his ongoing commitment to our nation’s youngest consumers of media. His speech detailed important actions that both the FCC and the media industry must take in order for the media to live up to their full potential for children.

“Children are bombarded by advertisements for junk food and for violent movies across the media they use—television, the Internet and video games. These aggressive marketing practices have negative effects on children’s health and wellbeing by contributing to childhood obesity and aggressive behavior. As these media converge, we need rules to protect kids. We have been fighting to protect children from the harmful effects of advertising for many years and commend Commissioner Adelstein for calling for restrictions on interactive advertising.

“There is no question that parents are overwhelmed and under-equipped as they attempt make informed choices for their children in an increasingly complicated 24-7 media world. Commissioner Adelstein recognizes this problem and has outlined reasonable solutions: make sure that the TV ratings are accurate and consistently applied and that parental controls are easy to understand, easy to use and universally accessible.

“Finally, many television broadcasters are neglecting to offer quality educational programs that support and enrich children’s intellectual development. We appreciate Commissioner Adelstein’s call for television broadcasters to provide more quality educational programming for children.

“We thank Commissioner Adelstein for outlining his plans to improve the media environment for the nation’s children and families. We look forward to working with Commissioner Adelstein and the FCC to move this agenda into action.”