Real shady

Studios should not sell violence to kids

Do you remember where you where on April 20, 1999, when you heard the news? It started out as a relatively calm day but before nightfall every television network, radio station and newspaper in the country would be carrying word of a tragic shooting spree at Columbine High School.

The shootings were not shocking because high schools were the target of violence - there had been a string of lesser incidents at schools throughout the nation before the calamity in Littleton. The idea that terrified the public was that two high school students, at the tender ages of 17 and 18, could wantonly walk into a nice suburban high school after over a year of planning and ruthless murder 12 students, shoot a teacher and kill themselves. In the aftermath of the debacle, the question on the lips of Americans everywhere was simple: "Why?"

Of course everyone had their ideas: From a lack of religion, to inadequate security, to mental illness, there was endless discussion as to what could have motivated the killings. Of the many explanations, pop culture and the entertainment industry came under harsh fire for promoting a climate of violence.

In Washington, politicians were hard pressed to explain why the incident had occurred and more importantly, what steps the government would take to prevent another disaster from taking place.

Without directly resolving the highly debatable issue of what role entertainment has in violence, President Clinton asked the Federal Trade Commission to determine whether the films, music and games that have been deemed questionable for kids by the entertainment industry are still being targeted at them.

After more than a year of study the FTC recently concluded that the entertainment industry does in fact market items they themselves have deemed to be unsuitable for children directly to children. As the report states, "the answers are plainly, yes." The report further noted specific instances such as R-rated films being advertised in high school newspapers and advertised on television programs with a primary audience of children.

Other unethical procedures included distributing flyers for R-rated films to youth groups like Camp Fire Boys and Girls.

The President of Sony, Mel Harris, was recently forced to acknowledge a "lapse in judgement" when the company tried to run ads on the children's network, Nickelodeon, for the violent PG-13 movie "The Fifth Element"; Nickelodeon refused to run the ads.

As explained by the First Amendment, members of the entertainment industry, as Americans, enjoy a right to free speech and expression. They ought to be allowed to freely disseminate information without any sort of direct or indirect government censorship.

Hopefully the presidential candidates will realize that inappropriate entertainment being marketed to kids should not be a campaign issue. The real people who should focus on this issue are corporations and parents who have a responsibility to protect their own children from violent or objectionable material.

The entertainment industry has voluntarily used labeling systems, which were expedited by public pressure, to warn parents about content that is inappropriate for their children. It is extremely hypocritical for the same industry to target this content directly at youth.