ls in government and educational fields have voiced concerns about children's advertising. Various investigations have generally failed to reveal anything other than what is obvious: advertisers are making a lot of money out of manipulating kids into manipulating their parents. But as to the long-term social effects on children, that is still being studied. Ample evidence is available to indicate that young children learn a variety of behavior from television - much of it undesirable. Some preschoolers have difficulty separating the fantasy from the real; its vividness makes even the unbelievable seem quite real to children. And when it comes to commercials, young children generally fail to distinguish them from the program itself (Katz 124). This makes the situation all the more difficult for parents and consumer groups because the 1980's have seen the growth of full-blown "kidvid" shows that many are calling program-length commercials.
The commercialization of children's programming has been hotly debated since 1984, when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) lifted longstanding restrictions regarding children's television. Then-chairman Mark S. Flowler, a Reagan appointee, said: the marketplace will determine what is best for children and viewer preference would keep the reins on excessive advertising" (Meyer 67).
In the 1970s children's programmers, goaded by a vigilant FCC, dispensed educational programming along with entertainment. With deregulation, the te
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