Charlie Condon

About the author: Charlie Condon is the attorney general of South Carolina.

A 2000 report from the Federal Trade Commission confirmed what parents have long suspected: that the advertising for violent movies, television shows, video games, and music CDs intentionally targets young audiences. When it comes to marketing their products, the movie, TV, video game, and music industries ignore their own rating systems that are designed to warn parents about which products are inappropriate for children. Entertainment industry executives say that their violent material is for adult audiences, but in reality they market this harmful material to children.

In September 2000, America heard the proverbial fire bell in the night. The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC's) stunning report, Marketing Violent Entertainment to Children, sounded the alarm by exposing with impressive particularity the devastating...