Family Re-Union 4: Families and the Media

FAMILY RE-UNION 4:
THE FAMILY AND THE MEDIA
July 10, 1995

The previous conference raised concern that men and fathers were too frequently depicted in the media as violent, destructive or absent. Family Re-Union 4 focused attention on the positive and negative roles that media plays in the lives of children and their families. Bringing together families, industry leaders, educators, psychologists and experts in technology, the conference broadened the options for families concerned about the impact of media. Results included:

• President Clinton endorsed the "V-Chip" legislative proposal that requires a device in all new televisions that enables parents to control their children's access to unsuitable programming.
• Following a White House Summit on Children's Television in 1996, broadcasters voluntarily agreed to a rating system to help parents screen content for children and then improved that rating system in October 1997.
• At a White House Summit on Children's Programming, the industry agreed to provide a minimum of three hours of quality children's programming a week. This plan was adopted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and went into effect in September 1997.
• The National Institute on Media and the Family, inspired by the conference, was founded in Minnesota and has become an internationally recognized resource on this issue.