Abstract
The issue of child welfare is again at center stage in electronic media policy discussions both in Congress and at the FCC. The Children's Television Act of 1990 is currently the operative legislation, designed to increase educational programming and reduce commercialization in children's television. The FCC has been attempting to encourage broadcasters to air quality children's educational television for almost fifty years. Despite the passing of more than a decade since the adoption of the original children's television regime, neither the effectiveness of the rules nor their constitutionality has been established. This article takes the opportunity recently offered by Congress and the FCC to assess the current regime and recommend policy changes. This article contends that although the FCC's rules would probably have been deemed constitutionally acceptable under the First Amendment had they ever triggered judicial review, they should nevertheless be revised as a matter of policy.