Should Children's TV Selections and Use Be Controlled?

A total of 87 percent of U.S. parents think they do a better job of protecting kids than the government, according to a national coalition that opposes government control of TV programming and promotes the use of tools such as content ratings and parental controls.

As parents in or , are you guiding and monitoring your children's viewing of TV this summer? At what ages should children be allowed more freedom regarding their TV selections?

TV Watch Executive Director Jim Dyke issued the following statement Monday regarding seven broadcast networks committing to make content ratings for shows they broadcast available on websites they control:

“For years, the content ratings have proven to be one of the most popular tools parents use to help make decisions about what their children watch on television. The most recent data shows that 68 percent of parents use the TV ratings system and 95 percent of the parents who use them often find the ratings helpful. Parents have overwhelmingly stated that they, not the government, are better at making decisions about what their children view on television. By taking this step today, these networks are giving parents an expanded set of tools to help determine what their children watch based on their own taste, style and age.”

Adam Temple, of TV Watch, informed Patch the seven networks are ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Telemundo, Telefutura and Univision. The ratings will be available on the shows when they stream on the network's website or on Hulu, he said.

The announcement came just after newly released data from the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board that shows:

• 72 percent of parents report having rules about TV use;
• 68 percent of parents say they use the TV ratings system;
• 88 percent of parents are aware that the TV ratings system provides guidance based on the age of the child;
• 36 percent of parents use either a V-Chip or cable/satellite-provided parental controls; and
• 95 percent of parents who use the ratings most often find them helpful.

TV Watch is a nonpartisan coalition of 27 individuals and organizations, including legal and entertainment experts and political and consumer organizations, representing more than four million Americans.

TV Watch was launched in May 2005, and is the leading national organization to promote parental controls and individual choices as an alternative to increased government regulation of TV content.

Individuals associated with TV Watch include:

• Jack Balkin, First Amendment Professor, Yale Law School
• Braden Cox, Research & Policy Counsel, Association for Competitive Technology
• Susan Crawford, Professor, Cardozo Law School
• Nick Gillespie, Editor: Reason magazine
• Jeff Jarvis, former TV critic for TV Guide and People, and creator of Entertainment Weekly; blogger for Buzzmachine.com
• Brian Murphy, Adjunct Professor, New York Law School and partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
• Sal Severe, PhD, Author: How to Behave So Your Children Will Too
• Linda Gale White, former First Lady of Texas
• Jack Myers, editor and publisher of the Jack Myers Report Media Village, former TV executive