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Federal Communications Commission: A rating system and filter-by-rating technology for television commercials
  1. Signatures
    310 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Federal Communications Commission
  2. Created By
    Chris Darbonne
    Franklin, MI
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

Increasingly, television commercials have become what we would've previously considered as inappropriate, explicit, or just plain scary for children. There seems to be no moderation (or identification) of the content. In a house with young children, it's impossible to take your eyes off the TV while watching a child appropriate TV show - you may miss a necessary channel change - in case commercials for the next 'paranormal' TV show or 'ghost' program are aired. We're constantly striving to improve our environment by limiting emissions, fuel economy, and overall waste. It would seem that we're missing a major component in the idea of an improved environment if we allow television networks to nudge the boundary of what is considered all-age appropriate and not create a rating system that addresses this content. We're not allowing parents to make decisions based on what is suitable for their children if there's no way to filter. A child should be able to watch an age-appropriate science-based program without being shocked by the commercial content in the same program. There needs to be government support to create a rating system for commercial content and to also support an eventual technology where parents can filter content based on their set rating. This is not censorship; this is a way for each household to choose what is right for their family. This "just-about-anything-goes" advertising we've been living with is truly a form of subtle pollution in our children that we've not yet addressed other than to turn the TV off.

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A rating system and filter-by-rating technology for television commercials

Greetings,

I just signed the following petition addressed to: Federal Communications Commission.

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A rating system and filter-by-rating technology for television commercials

Increasingly, television commercials have become what we would've previously considered as inappropriate, explicit, or just plain scary for children. There seems to be no moderation (or identification) of the content. In a house with young children, it's impossible to take your eyes off the TV while watching a child appropriate TV show - you may miss a necessary channel change - in case commercials for the next 'paranormal' TV show or 'ghost' program are aired. We're constantly striving to improve our environment by limiting emissions, fuel economy, and overall waste. It would seem that we're missing a major component in the idea of an improved environment if we allow television networks to nudge the boundary of what is considered all-age appropriate and not create a rating system that addresses this content. We're not allowing parents to make decisions based on what is suitable for their children if there's no way to filter. A child should be able to watch an age-appropriate science-based program without being shocked by the commercial content in the same program. There needs to be government support to create a rating system for commercial content and to also support an eventual technology where parents can filter content based on their set rating. This is not censorship; this is a way for each household to choose what is right for their family. This "just-about-anything-goes" advertising we've been living with is truly a form of subtle pollution in our children that we've not yet addressed other than to turn the TV off.
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Sincerely,

[Your name]

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