Sex, drugs, violence, nudity, and "coarse" language; it's all over television. It pulls in viewers, it's exciting, and sometimes realistic. However, these behaviors often are not what parents want their children to see or emulate. The question of the effect on children appears to have been answered by a multitude of studies over the past 30 years or more.

A quick search online will reveal items such as a 15 year longitudinal study reported by the American Psychological Association that indicates children's viewing of violent TV shows is linked to aggression in young adulthood for both sexes irregardless of intellectual abilities, social status, or parenting style.* An online search might also find the report on the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry site which indicates that "TV can be a powerful influence in developing value systems and shaping behavior".** Media violence is said to effect children of various ages differently, but reportedly has the greatest effect on children who view violence which is not seen as evil or does not result in punishment, disapproval, or human suffering as explained in a report available on the Media Awareness Network site.***

Parents have a number of options in trying to eliminate or reduce their children's exposure to programming that they feel is inappropriate. Obviously, most services offer programming that is appropriate for young children with shows such as Discovery Kids, the various Disney Channels, Nickelodeon, Nick Toons, BabyFirst TV, and so forth. However, as most adults will want programming beyond the child focused offerings, satellite television and cable providers have offered parental controls for a number of years. Dish Network satellite receivers for instance all offer parental controls/system locks that allow users to restrict what programs can be viewed based on password protected locks. Viewing can be restricted by channel or by ratings.

Like most parental control systems, Dish Network's software operates in conjunction with V-Chip technology. Users simply program the system to restrict access to certain programming or, through their "Adult Guard" software, to completely remove Adult Channels from the Electronic Program Guide so that children can neither view the restricted programming nor access programming information through the guide. Once Dish Network's no-cost "Adult Guard" is programmed the locks will remain even when there is a power outage.

Although Dish Network and other providers offer parental controls parents should be aware that other steps may be necessary to reduce exposure to media that may have negative effects on young children. Experts caution that parents might need to be alert to the violence that is present in everything from cartoons, to music videos, and even many of the video games that are on the market.

Monitoring the media that children view is an important step in controlling their exposure. Professionals also seem to agree that watching with very young children and being able to discuss what they see can also help them to better understand when violence or other behavior is not acceptable and what the consequences might really be. Although it is very clear that parents should take an active role in managing the media available to their young children and in helping them to interpret what they see, satellite and cable television providers will need to continue to offer state-of-the-art controls to assist parents when they simply cannot monitor every moment of their child's day.

Sources:

*apa.org/releases/media_violence.html

**aacap.org/page.ww?section=Facts+for+Families&name=Children+And+TV+Violence

***media-awareness.ca/English/resources/research_documents/reports/violence/tv_violence_child_cfm