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REMARKS BY:     DONNA E. SHALALA, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN   
                 SERVICES
PLACE:          Talk Summit,   New York, NY 
DATE:           October 27, 1995

Why am I here?

You and your colleagues speak to millions of people each day. As some of this country's most effective communicators, you know how to catch people's eye; how to draw them in; and how to keep their attention.

You have to understand: I come from a world in which people honestly believe that the way to communicate with the American people is through brochures!

People all over this country are listening to you. The question is, what are you going to tell them? And, the answer is up to you.

So, I come here today to challenge you to work with us -- to use your unique skills and your unique access to the American people to help us address one of the biggest problems facing our country.

Let me put it bluntly: we are in serious danger of losing an entire generation of young people, and with them, losing our country's future.

I spend a lot of time listening to teenagers -- two of whom, Hannah Alejandro and Caroline Coleman, are sitting with me at dinner tonight and will be participating in the discussions tomorrow.

Let's face it, this is a tough time to be young in America. The pressures. The temptations. The loneliness. The mixed messages.

And, if its tough to be a teenager, it's terrifying to be a parent. Listen to what a mother in Great Falls, Virginia had to say about her 19 year-old son: "What can you do? I went from wanting him to win the Nobel Prize to wanting him to survive."

Parents have every reason to worry. We have every reason to worry.

Every day in America, nearly 1,400 teenagers drop out of school; more than 1,000 give birth out-of-wedlock; and approximately 25 are infected with HIV.

Every day, 1.2 million young people have at least five alcoholic drinks; about 3,000 start smoking; more than 250 are arrested for drug offenses; and 15 children lose their lives in gun-related accidents, suicides, and homicides.

A national disgrace. All of it.

And what can we do about it?

To save this generation and this country, we must ensure that all caring adults -- especially parents -- become engaged in the lives of young people.

We must help parents provide their children with the compasses and the endurance they will need to bypass the dangerous minefields -- like drugs, AIDS, and teen pregnancy -- and make safe passages into young adulthood.

And, that's where all of you come in.

Today, our department is releasing a study showing that teenagers in America are turning their backs on books and clubs -- and spending too many hours of the day idle and unsupervised.

And, what are teenagers doing with their abundant free time? They're talking on the telephone, hanging out in Malls, and -- surprise, surprise -- spending an average of two-and-a-half hours per day glued to the television set.

You are increasingly filling the vacuums once occupied by our traditional institutions -- from family to religion, and from schools to communities.

We know that, for many of our teenagers, television is their primary educator and entertainer; their best friend and favorite babysitter; the outlet of their energy and the even the source of some of their values.

We know that our children -- who once dreamed of weddings and graduations -- are now growing up in a world in which violence is an everyday fixture of their lives.

And, we know that parents -- who are increasingly tapped out and stressed out by the burdens of their own lives -- are finding it more and more difficult to confront all the dangers facing their children, especially those that seem so far out of their control.

None of this is your fault -- but it is your problem. It is our problem. And, together, we have a responsibility -- and an obligation -- to try to solve it.

Our children -- and their parents -- are watching your shows closely -- they're absorbing life lessons about values; lessons about how to talk to each other, and lessons about how to deal with the barriers -- like violence, substance abuse, and depression -- that keep them from strengthening their lives and their families.

The question is, when parents turn on your programs and see teenagers who are hooked on marijuana, what will they learn about how to prevent their own children from using drugs?

When your audience sees parents and teenagers disagreeing about sex and birth control -- what will they learn about resolving these conflicts in their own families?

When they see the terror and the tears caused by patterns of domestic violence, what will they learn about ending the brutality -- and healing the wounds -- in their own homes?

And, day after day, when the credits roll and the television sets are turned off, what will your guests take away that will empower them to solve their own problems -- and get on with their lives?

You could fill hour after hour with shows that are bizarre, carnivalesque, or even degrading -- shows about people whose marriages break up because they fall in love with their pets or shows about children who'll swear they are space creatures from another planet.

Could things like this happen? You never know.

But, we surely don't gain anything -- and, indeed, we lose -- when we spotlight absurd, anti-social, or even violent behavior and portray it as the "norm."

I understand that you are entertainers by trade. I understand that you need to be ever mindful of the bottom line of profits and ratings.

But, there is another role and another bottom line that I'm challenging you to pay more attention to: It's your role as professionals, as citizens, and as guardians of the public trust. And, it's the bottom line of our families, our communities, and our country.

In the days leading up to this speech, people kept asking me why I wanted to come here and speak to you. "It's a lost cause," they told me, "They'll never change. Just give it up."

And, I will tell you exactly what I told them. I came here precisely because I can't give up. I won't give up. I don't have the luxury or the desire to give up on people who have the eyes and ears of millions of teenagers -- and their parents.

I didn't come here to shake my finger at you.

But, I'm not here to say everything is "o.k." either.

I am here to challenge you -- challenge you ethically as professionals and morally as citizens -- to use your influence more responsibly -- so that we can help give all parents more stamina in their everyday race to save our nation's children.

I know it can be done -- and you know it can be done -- because you have produced many individual segments that strike the right balance, segments that entertain and inform, without breeding conflict or exploitation.

I'm talking about programs like the one that aired about women and depression.

It had drama -- the audience was introduced to a young girl who had attempted suicide three times -- and her family who was praying for the pain to end.

But, it also had valuable information. The show focused on improving the young girl's mental health. It gave the audience guidelines to try to detect depression.

And, it provided real resources -- like a phone number at a mental health center in Laguna Beach, California -- where the public could turn to find out more about handling their own depression. I'm told more than 1500 people from all over the country called -- searching for answers.

That's good entertainment. But, it's also good education. And, that's the balance I'm challenging you to try to strike on every one of your shows.

I'm challenging you to find ways to help empower parents to understand and talk to their children -- so that our young people can make the right choices with the only lives they will ever have.

As the President has said over and over again, government doesn't raise children. Our schools don't raise children. The media doesn't raise children. Parents raise children -- but all of us have an obligation to give them a helping hand.

Because, none of us are born knowing how to be good parents. Parenting is learned -- it is a lifelong process. And, your shows can -- and should -- help.

Parents are watching and listening to your programs -- reaching out to identify with your guests and the struggles in their lives.

When done right, your shows can help these parents open their eyes to issues -- like tobacco and marijuana -- that confront their children every day.

When done right, your shows can help open kids up -- so that parents all over America can gain valuable insight into their own children's behavior -- and clear pathways to their hearts.

And, when done right, your shows can help parents learn to talk to their children in ways that bridge the generation gap -- instead of prying it apart.

But, to help parents, we need to show them and their children not only the problems in life -- but also the solutions. And, that brings me to my second point.

After you deliver the "heat," I challenge you to add some "light."

Just like we in government are frustrated by the necessity of distilling complicated topics into thirty-second sound bites or short press conferences, I know that you struggle daily with the challenge of squeezing difficult topics like child abuse into less than 50 minutes of air time.

But, you know it can be done -- because all of you have done it.

You know what separates an "issue" show from a "tissue" show.

Instead of having 95 percent of the show be conflict and 5 percent be resolution -- I believe we can strike a better balance.

When you're doing a show about drug use, you have a golden opportunity to steer parents and children towards places they can go for help kicking the habit.

If you're doing a show about HIV infection among young people, you have an opportunity to teach them how to protect themselves and their children against this deadly disease -- and where to go for help if they already have it.

If you're doing a show about teen pregnancy, you have an incredible opportunity to speak to countless teenagers -- who are not yet pregnant -- but are at great risk of becoming so.

And, what do they need to know? They need to know that unwed teen mothers and their children are more likely to face uncertain futures filled with poverty, violence, and dependency.

They need to learn how to say "no" to sex and pregnancy -- and "yes" to their educations and their futures.

And, they need to understand that they should talk to their parents or other caring adults -- before it's too late.

Education and entertainment can go hand in hand -- and we want to help you ensure that they do.

That means providing you with the information you need to make certain your shows provide accurate answers and places to go for help.

At our department, we have up-to-date statistics about drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. We have access to the best experts on issues ranging from teen pregnancy to depression, and from youth violence to AIDS. We have information about approaches that work to prevent teen pregnancy, improve childhood immunization rates, or make welfare a hand-up -- not a hand-out.

And, you shouldn't hesitate to call on us about any issue, any topic -- anytime.

That's why I am pleased to include in the packet you received tonight a number you can call at HHS -- and a disk with useful information -- yes, we've entered the 20th century -- so that you can get the facts you need -- when you need them.

It is my hope that this event is just the start of an on-going dialogue between leaders in government and the entertainment industry about ways that we can help our young people not only survive -- but thrive.

Because, the problems facing our next generation will not be solved by you alone. They will not be solved by the government alone. But, we do need your skills to reach our parents and their children.

From T.V. talk shows to teachers, from athletes to artists, and from parents to public servants -- it's going to take all of us -- privileged enough to have the trust of our young people -- to do everything in our power to honor -- not undermine -- that trust.

We must ask ourselves, long after each of us are gone and the history books on politics and entertainment have all been written, what do we want them to say about our role in saving our children's lives and safeguarding our country's future?

When given the choice and the power, did we choose to have a positive effect, a negative effect, or no effect at all?

Did we do the right thing?

Because, somewhere in America tonight, there could be a 13 year-old girl standing outside her parents bedroom -- and finding that her worst nightmare has come true.

She sees her father beating her mother over the head with a hammer. Try to imagine that. And, try to imagine what you would do if you were only 13.

That girl knows what to do. She remembers the lessons taught to her on a T.V. talk show about domestic violence. She picks up the telephone, presses 9-1-1, and saves her mother's life.

If that young girl can have the courage to pick up the telephone, surely we can have the courage and the responsibility to help prevent such stories from ever happening.

Thank you.