There is no doubt that the exposure to
television violence exerts an influence on all children. It will not transform
every child into a criminal, and it is not the sole factor influencing children.
However, all studies lead to the same conclusion: the risks to which an ever
increasing number of children are exposed, will one day have repercussions on
the quality of life and the sense of safety experienced by society as a whole.
In this context, the signatory organizations
invite all citizens to support requests to the Federal Government aimed at
regulating violence offered to children by TV.
The present campaign also aims to supply
parents with practical means to interact with their children on that matter.
The
first Quebec campaign against TV violence occurred in 1989. It carried two
requests:
The
decision to organize this campaign was taken in reaction to the increase of
violence in North America during previous years. Actually, between 1962 and
1989, violent crimes in Canada increased
by 400%. During the same period,
cultural products (such as TV, toys, videogames, music) from the United States
carried a tremendous increase in the incitement to violence.
From the
start, popular artists known to advocate for freedom of expression supported
the campaign. Indeed, the issue here has nothing to do with censorship. Adults
who want to watch movies depicting heavy violence could easily record them on
VCR or rent them from video stores. The two proposed measures are aimed only at
safeguarding children’s mental health. Had they been implemented, they would
have sent a clear message on the issue of television violence, similar to
measures targeting tobacco.
The
campaign resulted in nearly 200,000 people signing a petition. It ended barely
two weeks before the École polytechnique slaughter. The petition finally got a
very significant meaning once it became known that the perpetrator of the
slaughter was an avid viewer of violent films.
Thereafter, in the Spring of 1990, the communications
minister, Marcel Masse, mandated the president of the CRTC, Keith Spicer, to
convene a table of negotiators, including the management of Quebec television
channels and petition representatives. Discussions lasted one year and
concluded with mixed results. On one side, TVA removed from its program list
such series as G.I. Joe. However, it was not possible to reach agreement
on a general policy. It should be noted that nearly all the targeted programs
originated from the United States.
In 1993,
after the murder of her younger sister, thirteen-year-old Virginie Larivière
took up the issue and, this time, gathered 1.5 million signatures, across Canada.
Faced
with such a tidal wave, Prime Minister Mulroney promised to act. He invited television
channels to self-regulate. Foreign experiments had, however, proved that such
an approach would not succeed.
A
self-regulatory code was, in fact, instituted by the networks in 1994.
Recently,
two professors from Laval University published a report proving that, following
the adoption of the self-regulatory code, violence carried by privately owned
networks had increased by 432%. These results illustrate once more that
Canadians cannot depend on broadcasters’ good will to reduce television
violence.
It is urgent to take action and, this time,
obtain permanent regulations to assist parents and schools in preventing
violence.
We
therefore invite all organisations and management boards to adopt a resolution
requesting the Government of Canada to regulate violence on television.
Asking
the Canadian Government to act is not enough, the “family government” can also
take action. We therefore offer
pragmatic advice to parents wishing to intervene on that issue with their
children at the following address:
http://www.csdm.qc.ca/pv/televiolence/documents/flyerTVViolence.pdf
In
summary, all social actors must mobilize to protect our children against this
ever increasing incitement to violence. What are we indeed doing to our
children, flooding the airwaves with violent programs at times when they are
watching television?
Robert
Cadotte
President,
Pedagogical Commission
Commission
scolaire de Montréal
André
Caron,
President
Fédération des
commissions scolaires du Québec
Diane Miron
President
Fédération des
comités de parents du Québec
Alain Pélissier
Secretary Treasurer
Centrale
des syndicats du Québec
Rose-Marie
Charest
President
Ordre des psychologues
du Québec
Dr Yves
Lamontagne
President
Collège
des médecins du Québec
Dr Pierre
Gaudreault, president
Dr
Dominique Cousineau, spokesperson
Association of Quebec Paediatricians
Dr Richard
Lessard,
Director
Direction
de prévention et de santé publique de Montréal-Centre
Michel Turcotte, President
Marcel
Renou, Vice-President
Ordre des conseillers et conseillères d’orientation et des
psychoéducateurs et psychoéducatrices du Québec
Louis
Beaulieu
Chief
Executive Officer
Ordre des
orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec
Dr Brian
Bexton
President
Quebec Association of Psychiatrists
Mgr Gilles Lussier
President
of the Social Affairs Committee
Quebec
Bishops’ Assembly