Question: I am concerned about violence in popular media, but as a believer in the First Amendment I've been troubled by some candidates' proposed solutions. What specifically would you do, and how can you claim any government sanction isn't a form of
Submitted from Steven of St. Paul, Minnesota through America Online (10/25/00)
Answer from Al Gore:
Helping Parents Protect Their Children
I feel the same way, Steven. I am deeply concerned about the level of violence children are exposed to in the media.
While making sure to honor the First Amendment, we must give parents more tools to protect their children from material they feel is inappropriate.
Despite years of bipartisan efforts with the entertainment industry to develop tougher labeling and standards, many of the movies, music albums, and video games rated as inappropriate for kids are being aggressively marketed to kids. That's outrageous and wrong. It's time for the entertainment industry to follow its own rules, and stop peddling violence and indecency to our kids. It's hard enough for parents to raise children today, without having to compete with a culture that glorifies violence and aggression. If you entrust me with the presidency, I'm going to stand up to the industry, and stand with America's parents for decency and responsibility in our popular culture.
On September 11, the Federal Trade Commission released a troubling report, which spelled out in black and white how hard it can be for parents to raise their children today. That same day, Joe Lieberman and I called for an immediate cease-fire on the marketing of adult material to children. We have given the industry a six-month deadline to adopt voluntary standards with real enforcement mechanisms to stop marketing adult material to kids. If the industry fails to act on its own, if it keeps breaking its own rules and misleading parents, we're going to support tougher measures to hold industry accountable. Consistent with the First Amendment, we'll support the strengthening of current laws to cover false and deceptive advertising that targets kids.
But that is just the beginning of what we must do to make it easier for parents to protect their children. I want to expand family leave and raise family incomes so parents have more time to be involved with their children and their children's schools. We have to keep working with industry to give parents more tools like the V-Chip, so you can choose what your kids watch on TV, and make sure they don't surf into dangerous waters on the Internet.
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Today's Rolling Cyber Debate Question for Al Gore
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