Written by James Fohl

Supervising Your Child's Television Habits Is Very Important

If you have small children in your household, then the chances are pretty good that you have several television sets in your household. It's not always possible to keep a close eye on your child's activities, and anyone who has watched television in the past decade can quickly realize that paying attention to children while they watch television is extremely important.

Television Today Is Full Of All Kinds Of Programming That Is Not Suitable For Young Children

Go ahead and turn on your TV, and spend a few minutes channel surfing. You are almost guaranteed to see sex, drugs, and violence. Television has drastically changed in the past twenty years, as literally hundreds of channels now provide content. It's nearly impossible to know exactly what is on all of these channels twenty four hours a day.

The Government Has However Stepped In To Combat This Situation

Thankfully the government has realized this and has called for action. While plans were in session for several years, it wasn't until the TV Parental Guidelines system was put into action before anything really happened.

The TV Parental Guidelines system looks like a simple rating system. At the start of every TV show, a small rating is displayed usually in the upper right hand corner. The rating system indicates what age group the specific TV show is intended for, and if the specific TV show has any sex, violence, or drug usage in it. The ratings are listed in detail below, as they were taken directly from the FCC's printable ratings guide;

TV-Y (All Children -- This program is designed to be appropriate for all children.) Whether animated or live-action, the themes and elements in this program are specifically designed for a very young audience, including children from ages 2-6. This program is not expected to frighten younger children.

TV-Y7 (Directed to Older Children -- This program is designed for children age 7 and above.) It may be more appropriate for children who have acquired the developmental skills needed to distinguish between make-believe and reality. Themes and elements in this program may include mild fantasy or comedic violence, or may frighten children under the age of 7. Therefore, parents may wish to consider the suitability of this program for their very young children. Note: For those programs where fantasy violence may be more intense or more combative than other programs in this category, such programs will be designated TV-Y7-FV. For programs designed for the entire audience, the general categories are:

TV-G (General Audience -- Most parents would find this program suitable for all ages.) Although this rating does not signify a program designed specifically for children, most parents may let younger children watch this program unattended. It contains little or no violence, no strong language and little or no sexual dialogue or situations.

TV-PG (Parental Guidance Suggested -- This program contains material that parents may find unsuitable for younger children.) Many parents may want to watch it with their younger children. The theme itself may call for parental guidance and/or the program contains one or more of the following: moderate violence (V), some sexual situations (S), infrequent coarse language (L), or some suggestive dialogue (D).

TV-14 (Parents Strongly Cautioned -- This program contains some material that many parents would find unsuitable for children under 14 years of age.) Parents are strongly urged to exercise greater care in monitoring this program and are cautioned against letting children under the age of 14 watch unattended. This program contains one or more of the following: intense violence (V), intense sexual situations (S), strong coarse language (L), or intensely suggestive dialogue (D).

TV-MA (Mature Audience Only -- This program is specifically designed to be viewed by adults and therefore may be unsuitable for children under 17.) This program contains one or more of the following: graphic violence (V), explicit sexual activity (S), or crude indecent language (L).

The Ratings Are Encode For The V-Chip

Not only is the small rating displayed on the screen, but it is also encoded into the broadcasting signal. The reason it is encoded into the broadcasting signal is for televisions equipped with the v-chip technology to be able to take advantage of the rating.

V-Chip is just a generic term for a television set's ability to decode the above rating signal and block the viewer from watching that specific content. All kinds of television manufacturers have their own version of the whole V-chip ordeal. While some call the feature V-Chip, others have fancy names such as Guardian or TV Protector, however they are all the same pretty much.

The reason why they all do the same thing is the fact that the government ordered that all television sets manufactured after January 1st, 2000 had to ship with the V-Chip technology in one way or another. If you find yourself with an older television set without the V-Chip, and do not wish to go out and spend fortitude of cash on a new television set, than you can go out and buy a box top set that will add V-Chip technology to your current television set.

So if you are a parent concerned with your child's television viewing, than perhaps you should investigate in V-Chip technology. Remember, if you already own a television set made after January 1st, 2000 than you have the ability to deny access to specific television programs. All you really have to do is find the instruction booklet and look up how you activate the V-Chip. If however you have an older television set, then perhaps it is time to go out and purchase a new television, or at least a V-Chip box set.