ABSTRACT
In 1948, there were fewer than 100,000 television sets in the United States. Television quickly surpassed radio, movies, and other forms of entertainment and news. Some adults were concerned that children were lulled into a passive state by television, or that television would impair children's ability to give sustained attention to a task. Among mental health professionals working with children, Joseph T. Klapper found concern about the impact of adult-targeted television programming on child viewers. Children might have loved television and perceived its usefulness in their lives, but adults had concerns. The issue of televised violence started receiving widespread public attention with the publication of a report by the Surgeon General in 1972. Shortly after the National Commission's report was published, Congress allocated $1,000,000 to study the issue of televised violence. Heading into the 1980s, many Americans had strong feelings about children and television.
