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October 4, 2007
Charleston, SC — It’s fall again, which means viewers are anticipating the new fall television season. Many Americans are eager to check out the new shows and catch up on old favorites. Adults will embrace or reject new comedy, drama and documentaries based on their personal preferences. Parents will dictate family viewing based on the age and maturity of their children. And activists will claim government is best suited to protect children.
“Parents have the information in content-based ratings to make informed decisions and the controls in the V-Chip to enforce those decisions. Parents overwhelmingly reject by 87 percent the government making TV viewing decisions for them,” says Jim Dyke, TV Watch Executive Director.
What Parents Are Saying:
- 60 percent of parents disagree with the statement: “The current parental controls and ratings systems have failed. It’s time for government to step in and do more.”
- 92 percent of parents agree with the statement: “Government involvement in curbing the amount of violence on television is okay in theory, but at the end of the day, the best way to prevent a child from seeing content deemed inappropriate is a parent in the home...not a politician in Washington.”
- 86 percent of parents believe that more parental involvement is the best way to keep kids from seeing what they shouldn’t see on television.
“Parents have said time after time that they want to control what comes on their TV screens. Instead of increasing television regulation, the government needs to be doing something else—listening to what parents want,” Dyke said.
For full audio interview, visit the Downloads section.
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