Club runs campaign to tune out television violence

Several hundred area families have vowed to turn off their television sets and tune out violent programming for a single day in April.

The "Tune Out Violence" campaign is sponsored locally by the Family and Community Education clubs in Cape Girardeau county and is part of a national campaign by FCE clubs. More than 375 people in the region already have pledged to turn off violent TV programming, video games and movies on April 5.

"This group is very proactive about things and trying to get some social change," said Mary Gosche with the University of Missouri Outreach and Extension office in Jackson. Gosche acts as a club adviser because the group is affiliated with the extension service.

FCE club members are asking families and parents to stop watching violent shows and to select programs that are educational or otherwise beneficial on April 5. Each person who pledges to tune out violence can list a particular program they find offensive on the pledge sheets.

Signatures collected by club members around the county will be submitted to the state and then forwarded to the National Association for Family and Community Education.

An FCE club member sits on a congressional panel so that the signatures are forwarded to the Federal Communications Commission.

"We tell them we want better TV," said Mary Klaproth, local committee chairperson for Tune Out Violence. "We feel like we've had an impact."

V-chip protection

In 1997, the FCC adopted a ruling that requires new television sets to include a V-chip so some programs could be blocked because of their ratings. All TV sets made after Jan. 1, 2000, have a V-chip. "We feel that we've been instrumental in helping with that," Klaproth said.

The goal behind the campaign isn't just to block out offensive programs, but to help parents be more aware of what their children are watching. "There's so much bad stuff on TV," Klaproth said.

Parent April Bryan agrees. Her four sons, ages 10, 9, 8 and 6, aren't allowed to watch much television because of the questionable programming on most channels, she said.

"They don't have free reign over the TV," she said. Most of the shows they are allowed to watch are on the Cartoon Network or Discovery channels. Even some cartoons, like "Ed, Edd and Eddie" can cross the line, she said.

Research studies show that some children become more aggressive and less sensitive to the pain and suffering of others around them when they watch violence on television. According to data from the Journal of Adolescent Health, children see 18,000 murders, robberies and assaults on television and 360,000 commercial messages during childhood.

ljohnston@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126