Women's Issues in the Debate
Presidential Debate 3 Excerpt: Violence and Morality
The complete transcript of this debate is available from the Commission on Presidential Debates
Mr. Lehrer:
New issue. And the question will be asked by Joyce Cleamer
of Governor Bush.
MEMBER OF AUDIENCE:
Hi, Governor. I'm very concerned about the morality of our country
now. TV, movies, the music that our children are, you know, barraged
with every day. And I want to know if there's anything that can be
worked out with the -- Hollywood, or whoever, to help get rid of some of
this bad language and whatever, you know. It's just bringing the country
down. And our children are very important to us and we're concerned
about their education at school. We should be concerned about their
education at home, also. Thank you.
Greatly expand character
education funding so that public
schools will teach children values
... afterschool money ought to be
available for faith-based programs
|
Governor Bush:
Appreciate that question. Laura and I are proud parents of teenage
girls, twin daughters, and I know what you're saying. Government ought
to stand on the side of parents. Parents are teaching their children
right from wrong, and the message oftentimes gets undermined by the
popular culture. You bet there's things that government can do. We can
work with the entertainment industry to provide family hour. We can have
filters on Internets where public money is spent. There ought to be
filters in public libraries and filters in public schools so if kids get
on the Internet, there is not going to be pornography or violence coming
in. I think we ought to have character education in our schools. I know
that doesn't directly talk about Hollywood, but it does reinforce the
values you're teaching. Greatly expand character education funding so
that public schools will teach children values, values which have stood
the test of time. There's afterschool money available. I think that
afterschool money ought to be available for faith-based programs and
charitable programs that exist because somebody has heard the call to
love a neighbor like you would like to be loved yourself. That will help
reinforce the values that parents teach at home as well. Ours is a great
land, and one of the reasons why is because we're free. And so I don't
support censorship. But I do believe that we ought to talk plainly to
the Hollywood moguls and people who produce this stuff and explain the
consequences. I think we need to have rating systems that are clear. I
happen to like the idea of having technology for the TV, easy for parents
to use so you can tune out these programs you don't want in your house.
I'll remind mothers and dads the best weapon is the off/on button, and
paying attention to your children, and eating dinner with them and being
-- I'm sorry.
negotiations with the Internet
service providers to get a
parents' protection page ...
a feature that allows parents
to automatically check what
sites your kids have visited
|
Vice President Gore:
I care a lot about this. It's not just movies; television, video games,
music, the Internet. Parents now feel like you have to compete with the
mass culture in order to raise your kids with the values that you want
them to have. Tipper and I have four children. And God bless them,
every one of them decided on their own to come here this evening. I
don't want to embarrass our oldest daughter. She and her husband made us
grandparents almost a year-and-a-half ago, and yet if she'll forgive me,
when she was little, she brought a record home that had some awful lyrics
in it and Tipper hit the ceiling. And that launched a campaign to try to
get the record companies to put ratings that -- warning labels for
parents. And I'm so proud of what she accomplished in getting them on
there. I've been involved myself in negotiating and helping to move
along the negotiations with the Internet service providers to get a
parents' protection page every time 95% of the pages come up. And a
feature that allows parents to automatically check with one click what
sites your kids have visited lately. You know, some parents are worried
about those filters, that you will have to ask your kids how to put them
on there. But if you can check up on them, that's real power. And
recently the Federal Trade Commission pointed out that some of these
entertainment companies have warned parents that the material is
inappropriate for children, and then they've turned around behind the
backs of the parents and advertised that same adult material directly to
children. That is an outrage. Joe Lieberman and I gave them six months
to clean up their act. And if they don't do it, we're gonna ask for
tougher authority in the hands of the FTC on the false and deceptive
advertising. I'll tell you this, I want to do something about this.
Respect the First Amendment, but I will do something to help you raise
your kids without that garbage.
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Affirmative Action
Education
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