PLACENTIA YORBA LINDA : School Board Splits Over TV Violence

A resolution decrying violence on television sparked a rare dispute Tuesday among members of the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District Board of Education.

While four of his colleagues applauded Resolution 120, which in part calls for the Federal Communications Commission to ban “gratuitous, dramatized violence” on television from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., Trustee William Kielty attacked it as “tap-dancing around censorship.”

“I don’t want (the government) deciding for me what is gratuitous violence,” Kielty said, adding that blaming television violence for social problems is abdicating personal responsibility.

“Most of us grew up with a lot of (television) violence,” Kielty said. “I honestly don’t believe that had much influence” on violence in society.

Trustee Jerry Brakebill, a detective with the Brea Police Department and former DARE officer, said he “couldn’t disagree more” with Kielty’s position.

“I guess because of the work I do, I strongly support Resolution 120,” Brakebill said.

Most decisions before the board are made unanimously, and trustees seldom publicly disagree with one another. But Brakebill and Craig Olson strongly supported regulating violence on television.

“People don’t have the right to put things into my home that may harm children,” Olson said.

The resolution lists seven recommendations for curbing the number of violent acts depicted on television, including the establishment of an entertainment media violence code, which would prohibit gratuitous violence on programming shown before 10 p.m.

Other steps recommended are a violence rating system, viewer warnings and development of devices to block out specific programs. The resolution calls for a ban on the viewing of violent programs in prison and strengthening the Children’s Television Act to require more educational programming.

Supt. James O. Fleming said the resolution was sent to him by the state Board of Education and he recommended that the Placentia-Yorba Linda board approve it based on the state’s endorsement and because he personally agrees with many of the provisions.

“I feel that violence on television and in the movies desensitizes kids to real-life violence,” Fleming said.

While acknowledging that passing the resolution is essentially no more than a gesture, Fleming said he is pleased by the board’s action.

“If we don’t do something now, what will society be like in 10 years?” Fleming said.