Periodic claims by citizen groups and members of Congress that violence on television leads to aggressive child-youth behavior undoubtedly will be fanned anew by a government report. Citing a 10-year study, the National Institute of Mental Health said the evidence “seems overwhelming that television violence and aggression are positively related in children.” While the percentage of programs containing violence has remained about the same since 1967, the number of violent acts per program has increased, the report concluded. The NIMH study made no recommendations for action, but it has implications for policymakers. the TV industry and parents and is likely to fuel new citizen input on the issue. A contrary view came in an unpublished NBC study cited by the government report. NBC researchers found a short-term link between viewing violence on TV and aggressive behavior but no lasting effect. News accounts quoted the network as saying its own study. to be made public in September, “certainly does not support their (the governments) overall conclusions about the effects of viewing violence. A National Association of Broadcasters spokesman also had some skepticism about the study. “We think the situation has improved in the past decade.” But the president of Action for Children’s Television praised the report and said: “One of the devastating problems with children’s TV today is that there is almost no choice Children are watching too much violence in part because there is so little else for them to watch.” According to news services the 94-page report mentioned, among examples. a 1978 CBS-funded study that found teenage boys in London, by their own accounts, were more likely to engage in “serious violence” after exposure to TV violence The findings may be controversial in some respects, but the basic evidence cannot be ignored and should encourage parents as well as the television industry to reexamine their responsibilities. On the one hand. the industry has an obligation, as the Broadcaster’s Association spokesman conceded, to screen out needless violence on cartoons and other children’s shows. On the other. parents have a responsibility to make value judgments on entertainment, make their voices heard, and regulate viewing habits in their homes rather than automatically deputizing ‘the TV set as the family baby-sitter.