| An
overwhelming majority of Americans (91%) object to government deciding
what they are able to watch on television, even if they don’t always
approve of the programming. Instead, eight out of ten people (85%)
prefer to exercise personal choice over what they watch on TV and not
have the government regulate what they view. They also want the
government and the TV industry to provide them with the information and
tools they need to make their own television choices. Read more.
What Parents Can Do
There are a variety of tools
to help parents manage what their children see on TV, including: the TV
rating system, on-air advisories and warnings, the v-chip in your
television and parental controls on cable and satellite.
TV ratings provide information
about the content and age-appropriateness of programs and can be found
with most program listings (see tvguidelines.org to learn more about
the ratings). In addition, every television larger than 13 inches
manufactured after 2000 contains a v-chip – a simple tool to manage the
programming your children watch even when you’re not in the room (see
v-chip.org to learn how to activate the v-chip in your TV). Cable and
satellite companies also offer a wide variety of parental controls
(learn how to use them at ControlYourTV.org for cable or visit your
satellite company Web site).
What the Television
Industry Can Do
Those who provide you with
television programming should educate people about the tools that are
available to help control what is seen in the home. The industry
promotes the TV parental guidelines rating system, supports education
and awareness efforts to encourage the use of parental controls, and
airs warnings and advisories on programming. The television industry
also can rely on responsible standards and practices to avoid live
programming that might offend some people.
|