On December 22, 1983, the Federal Communications Commission formally ended its consideration of rule making for children's television programing. Opponents of government regulation view the FCC's decision as a victory for the First Amendment freedoms of speech and the press; proponents of mandatory children's programing guidelines feel that the FCC has mortgaged the nation's youth in favor of marketplace economics and media lucre. In reaching its decision, the FCC criticized the failure of the children's task force to consider the growth in raw numbers of commercial television stations and the increased receivability of television signals, nonbroadcast sources of children's programing, cable programing, and the availability of "family" entertainment on commercial broadcast stations. Despite contradictory evidence, the FCC concluded that the task force studies did not support a case for increased regulatory concern or involvement in the area of children's television. Clearly the FCC felt strongly that continuing oversight of individual licensee programing for children was wrongheaded. However, by relying on misrepresentations and questionable legal logic, the Commission has invited a court challenge. (HOD)