Children, Adolescents, Substance Abuse, and the Media

FROM THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICSricula are available and should beused. 110–113Legislative Advocacy byPediatricians8. Pediatricians should encourageCongress to ban tobacco advertisingin all media accessible to children,which several Europeancountries have already done. Sucha ban would seem to be constitutional,given that the US SupremeCourt has already ruled that commercialspeech does not enjoy theabsolute First Amendment protectionsthat free speech does. 114Recently, Congress gave theFood and Drug Administrationthe authority to regulate tobaccoproducts; however, the tobaccoindustry is expected to challengeany advertising bans. 115,1169. Pediatricians should encourageCongress to require the alcohol industryto report its annual expendituresto the Federal Trade Commission,including expendituresfor media venues in which childrenand adolescents representmore than 10% of the marketshare (currently, voluntary advertisingrestrictions allow for venuesin which up to 30% of the audienceis children).10. Pediatricians should encouragethe alcohol industry to restrict advertisingand product placementin venues in which more than 10%of the audience is children andadolescents.11. Pediatricians should encouragethe White House Office of NationalDrug Control Policy to begin conductingantismokingandanti–teendrinkingpublic service campaigns,including strong antismoking andantidrinking ads to be placed beforetelevision programming andmovies that have youth ratingsand contain alcohol and tobaccodepictions.12. Pediatricians should encourageallocation of more money in mediaresearch, given the importance ofthe media on the development andbehavior of children and adolescents.Higher taxes on tobaccoproducts and alcohol could beused to fund such research.13. Pediatricians should encourageCongress to pass new strict lawsregulating digital advertisingthat targets children andadolescents. 100,117Involvement of the AlcoholicBeverage, Tobacco, Drug, andEntertainment Industries inEncouraging Responsible Behavior14. Pediatricians should encouragethe advertising industry, drugcompanies, public health groups,and medical groups to have a fulland open debate on the necessityof advertising prescription drugs.In addition, ads for erectile dysfunctiondrugs should be confinedto after 10 PM in all time zones andshould not be overly suggestive. 115. Pediatricians should encourage theentertainment industry to havegreater sensitivity about the effectsof television and movies on childrenand adolescents and accept that theindustry does, indeed, have a publichealth responsibility. 118 Cigarettesmoking in movies should beavoided at all costs and shouldnever be glamorized. 119,120 Disneyhas already promised to eliminatesmoking in its movies. 121 Making filmsets smoke-free zones would go farto diminish the portrayal of smokingin movies and would protect actorsand actresses from secondhandsmoke. Antismoking ads should precedethe showing of any film thathas tobacco use depicted. 119 Alcoholuse should not be portrayed as normativebehavior for teenagers, andthe traditional depiction of the“funny drunk” should be retired.Television networks that have alarge adolescent viewership shouldair public service ads about the dangersof smoking and drinking. Finally,the Motion Picture Associationof America (MPAA) ratings need tobe amended so that tobacco use willroutinely garner an R rating in allnew movies unless the risks andconsequences of smoking are unambiguouslyshown or the depictionis necessary to represent a realhistorical figure who actuallyused tobacco. 119 So far, the MPAAhas only agreed to considersmoking as a factor in assigninga rating. 122,12316. Pediatricians should encouragestate and federal agencies, the entertainmentindustry, and the advertisingindustry to develop andmaintain vigorous anti–drugadvertisingcampaigns that focuson the 2 drugs most dangerousto adolescents—tobacco andalcohol—in addition to illegaldrugs. Antidrug ads have beenshown to be highly effective at times(eg, the Truth campaign), 124–129 butthe effectiveness of the NationalYouth Anti-Drug Media Campaignhas been questioned. 130 Recently,and laudably, 6 major Hollywood studioshave agreed to place antismokingads on new movie DVDs that appealto children. 131,13217. Pediatricians should work withand support the American Academyof Pediatrics Julius RichmondCenter of Excellence (www.aap.org/richmondcenter), the missionof which is “to improve childhealth by eliminating children’sexposure to tobacco and secondhandsmoke,” including throughmedia exposure. 119PEDIATRICS Volume 126, Number 4, October 2010 795Downloaded from pediatrics.aappublications.org by guest on December 14, 2011