Press Releases FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 25, 2007 Children Now's Statement on FCC Report on TV Violence Oakland, CA--The following statement was issued by Patti Miller, vice president of Children Now, in reaction to today's Federal Communications Commission report on television violence. "We are very pleased that the Federal Communications Commission has formally recognized the harmful effects that television violence can have on young children. Decades of research has pointed to the relationship between viewing violent media and negative outcomes in children, such as increased aggressive behavior, heightened fear and desensitization to violence. "For years broadcasters have placed the responsibility on parents, claiming that parents have a plethora of tools from which to choose to block violent programming from entering their homes. Yet the tools to which they refer, namely the V-chip and cable and satellite parental controls, depend upon the voluntary television rating system in order to work effectively. Broadcasters have compromised the usefulness of these tools by not applying the TV ratings in a consistent manner. Further, a 2004 study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that one in five parents had never heard of the television ratings system and of those who had, barely half knew that the V rating indicated a show contained violent content. Furthermore, nearly 40% of parents felt that ratings were not applied accurately. This alone is enough to break parents' trust in the parental controls. "Children Now hopes that the FCC's report will motivate the television industry to act on their responsibility to help parents protect their children from harmful programming by providing them with accurate, reliable and consistent ratings information." Children Now is a nonpartisan research and advocacy organization working to raise children's well-being to the top of the national policy agenda. The organization focuses on ensuring quality health care, a solid education and a positive media environment for all children. Children Now's strategic approach creates awareness of children's needs, develops effective policy solutions and engages those who can make change happen.