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National Survey: Parents Deeply Concerned About Alcohol, Smoking, Food Marketing Content on Television
5/18/2010
Legacy Joins Group Asking Federal Communications Commission to Update Television Ratings System to Warn Parents to Content
Washington, D.C. – Today’s new media landscape brings a longer list of inappropriate television content, including alcohol abuse, smoking and even the marketing of junk food to children, which one survey shows are just as great a concern to parents as violence, sex and profanity. The national survey by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) aims to understand American parents’ concerns about media’s effect on children, considering that the average youth between the age of 8 and18 spends 30 percent of his or her time on total media watching television – more time spent online or on the phone.[1]
According to the report, 84 percent of parents reported that sexual content was something they were concerned or very concerned about; illegal drug use followed at 78 percent; violence at 76 percent; profane language at 74 percent; and alcohol abuse at 70 percent. The majority of parents were also concerned with marketing of junk food to children at 55 percent and smoking at 53 percent.
“Our nation's transition to digital television offers an excellent opportunity to provide children with additional protection from inappropriate content,” said Bishop Gabino Zavala, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Communications. “This survey is of great value because it provides decision-makers with the most up-date concerns of parents.”
While parents are concerned about various substance abuse portrayals on television, these portrayals have not been traditionally covered by the current ratings systems for parental controls. The survey found:
- More than 80 percent of parents want to be able to control their child’s access to media content; and
- Fifty-eight (58) percent believe that the government should do more to protect children from inappropriate media content.
In light of this research, several groups are asking the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to update its TV ratings system so that parents can be warned about this type of content before allowing their kids to watch television in the hopes of reducing youth exposure to inappropriate content that might lead to similar behavior.
Legacy joined the call-to-action, pointing to a growing body of research showing that smoking images in media, particularly movies, can be more powerful than traditional tobacco ads, accounting for the single largest reason that youth start to smoke. In addition, in 2004, 78 percent of middle school students and 87 percent of high school students reported seeing actors using tobacco on television or in movies.
“Since movies and television are not mutually exclusive media channels, the body of evidence pertaining to movies is highly relevant to television, as well, particularly since most movies are shown on television after airing in cinemas,” said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy.
The letter was signed by the USCCB, Children Now, United Church of Christ, Disciples Justice Action Network, Islamic Society of North America, Legacy and the National Council of Churches.
About Legacy
Legacy is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the national public health organization helps Americans live longer, healthier lives. Legacy develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation’s programs include truth®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as having contributed to significant declines in youth smoking; EX®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; and research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use. The American Legacy Foundation was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.legacyforhealth.org/.
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