Box 8.1 The V-chip According to a study of the Kaiser Family Foundation, parents are deeply concerned about sex and violence on TV. More than 80 percent of parents are concerned that their children are being exposed to too much sex and violence on TV. Sixty-three percent are "a great deal" concerned and 18 percent are "somewhat" concerned about too much sexual content; 59 percent are "a great deal" and 23 percent "somewhat" concerned about violent content. Nearly half of parents believe that exposure to sexual content on TV contributes "a lot" to kids becoming involved in sexual situations before they're ready, and the same proportion believe exposure to violence on TV contributes "a lot" to violent behavior in children. However, while 40 percent of all parents own a TV equipped with a V-chip, few are using it. Only 7 percent of all parents have used a V-chip to control their children's television viewing. Of those parents with a V-chip, half (53 percent) don't know it, about a third (30 percent) choose not to use it, and one in six (17 percent) have used it to block shows they don't want their children to watch. Of all parents who know they have a V-chip, about a third (36 percent) have chosen to use it. Of the parents who know they have a V-chip but do not use it, half say the reason they haven't programmed their V-chip is that an adult is usually nearby when their children watch TV; a quarter (25 percent) say it's because they trust their children to make their own decisions. Just 2 percent say it's because they think their children would find a way around it, and just 1 percent say it is because they see the V-chip as a form of censorship. Far more parents have used the TV ratings system than the V-chip. About half (56 percent) of all parents say they have used the TV ratings to make decisions about what shows their children will watch. This is similar to the percent of parents who have used the advisories on music (50 percent) or video and computer games (59 percent). A much larger proportion of parents (84 percent) have used the movie ratings. About a quarter of all parents (28 percent) say that they use the TV ratings "often." Furthermore, most parents (92 percent) who have used the ratings find them useful. About half of the parents who have used the ratings (48 percent) say they are "very" useful. This is similar to how parents assess the usefulness of the movie ratings (53 percent say "very" useful) and the advisories for CDs (52 percent "very" useful) and video games (52 percent). However, parents have mixed views as to whether TV ratings accurately reflect the content of shows. Of the parents who have used the TV ratings, half say that from what they've seen, most shows are being rated in a way that accurately reflects their content; however, 40 percent say most shows are not being rated accurately. Furthermore, many parents don't understand what the TV ratings mean. For example, most parents of children aged 2 to 6 cannot say what the ratings for young children mean. Just 43 percent can define the rating TV-Y7, 31 percent can define TV-Y, and only 14 percent can recognize that FV stands for fantasy violence. More parents do understand age-based ratings, with 62 percent know what TV-14 means, 63 percent what TV-G means, 74 percent what TV-PG means, and 47 percent what TV-MA means. Nevertheless, more parents say the content-based ratings provide the most useful information. SOURCE: Adapted from Kaiser Family Foundation, 2001, Parents and the V-chip 2001, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Menlo Park, Calif, available online at <http://www.kff.org/content/2001/3158/Summary.pdf>.