THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 4, 1995 TAG: 9502030047
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
In today's environment, children are often left to fill the hours after school by themselves. The baby sitter that is usually there for them is the television.
Now sit down in front of the box, and you will find yourself flicking through the channels, discarding the dross and useless information, and every now and then your eyes will be attracted to scenes that get the adrenaline pumping. Violence: It shocks us or it angers us. Either way, it promotes a response in us. America is attracted to violence.
The networks have responded by stepping up the shock value of shows, from children's cartoons to soaps and films. The news media also focus on the bloodier crimes - bodies lying in their own gore - and stories of rape and general mayhem. It is apparently what sells.
As parents, we are supposed to steer the minds of our kids in a direction that enables them to discriminate between wrong and right. But what if there are only busy parents trying to give their morals and learning out only on weekends? Children do tend to soak up a lot of information. And what if they are getting life lessons from the TV?
What balances this? Public television. It shows a different side of life and provides us with history, comedy, science and nature. It also provides instructional programs for schools.
If we cancel public television and public radio, we are consigning ourselves to a steady diet of mainstream pulp. This pulp has the eyes and ears of our younger generation trained upon it.
We should think of the big picture and bother the expense if it pays for a little quality. These are the people who will run the country when we are sitting in our resthomes.
ROSEMARY G. MACKAY-CAMP
Hayes, Jan. 26, 1995 by CNB