Do you ever remember your parents saying, “Turn that off” or “Change the channel, you don’t need to be watching that”? 

Well, I did, and let me tell you, just because I didn’t watch the bad language on television does not mean I didn’t hear it.  I used to baby-sit a group of younger kids whose parents had a block system on their television so that the children could only watch certain programs.  I found it odd but never questioned why MTV was completely out of the question but cartoons a television series such as “Power Rangers”, where they show “cool” kids beating up the bad guys or boys kissing girls, was allowed. 

Yes, MTV is more explicit and uses sex to pull viewers in, but, NEWFLASH, just because they saw Janet Jackson’s breast on the Super Bowl does NOT mean that they are robbed from their innocence and that their lives are ruined forever.  Did you ever sneak out of bed to go watch TV when you were little and flip to a channel like Cinemax or HBO’s “Real Sex”?  Trust me parents, you children have seen much worse. 

For the 2004 Super Bowl, it is estimated that 6.6 million kids ages 2-11 were watching CBS’s halftime show when Justin Timberlake ripped off a piece of Janet Jackson’s bodice, exposing her right breast to a nationwide audience.  So, 6.6 million children are going to grow up exposing their breast because Janet Jackson did it on TV?  No. 

There are an estimated 109.6 million homes in the United States with TV sets. An average kid spends four hours watching TV everyday.  That doesn’t sound like a lot does it?  A study by Huston and Wright from the University of Kansas, found that children spend more time watching television than in any other activity except sleep.  Now, that’s a little hard to believe.  A 9-year-old-little boy is at school, on average, from 8AM to 4PM then get home, watch a little TV, play with friends, eat dinner, take a bath, and go to bed.  According to that study, from 4:30-5PM to 9AM, four hours of that kid’s day, is consumed with television?  Well, what about the kids with TVs in their rooms?  According to one study, 54 percent of kids have a TV in the bedroom, and 44 percent of kids say they watch something different when they’re alone than with their parents (25 percent choose MTV).

I think that the major conflict with the issue is that many believe watching sexual intercourse and sexual relations on hit TV shows is influencing teens to become active in sex.  One study has found that 62 percent of people say that sex on TV shows and movie influences kids to have sex when they are too young, while 77 percent say there is too much sex before marriage on television.  A study conducted by RAND, found that their analysis of 1,792 adolescents ages 12-17 showed that watching sex on TV influences teens to have sex. Youths who watched more sexual content were more likely to initiate intercourse and progress to more advanced nonsocial sexual activities in the year following the beginning of the study. 

Also, 46 percent of high school students in the United States have had sexual intercourse.  Because of this high exposure to sexual content and sexually active teens, one case of an STD is diagnosed for every sexually active teen. 

In a sample of programming from the 2001-2002 TV season, sexual content appeared in 64 percent of all TV programs.  And it gets worse.  Did you know that one in every seven programs includes a portrayal of sexual intercourse?  A portrayal that included sexual risks such as HIV, STDs, AIDS, becoming pregnant, abstinence or even the need for sexual safety, was represented by sexual content. They expose sexual activity to a child, then say, “Because these two partners did not use protection…Jill is now pregnant at 16.” 

In considering decisions about contraceptives, STDs and sexual health choices, teens are more likely to get their information from TV rather than from a health care provider.  Is this a problem that our government could interfere with and put an end to?  Probably, but is it a conflict among all Americans, or just half of Americans?  Make it an issue and maybe the high rate of STDs and HIV will finally decrease.

If you feel that putting a restraint on your child’s sexual content viewing will not be beneficial, then by all means try parental guidance and disapproval of adolescence sex.  But take my word for it, if you monitor their TV watching at home, they will watch it elsewhere, read it somewhere or hear about it from peers. 

Another big issue is that of violence.  It has been respected that witnessing repeated violent acts can lead to a less sensitive child with a lack of empathy for human suffering.  Leonard Eron, a scientist at the University of Michigan, stated that, “Television alone is responsible for 10 percent of youth violence.”

 In addition, 65 percent of people say that shows such as “The Simpsons” and “Married? With Children” encourage kids to disrespect parents.  According to the American Psychiatric Association, by age 18, as American youth will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence.  Some state that viewing violence causes aggression and antisocial behavior. 

While doing research this article, I found this comment in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram: “Violence is like the nicotine in cigarettes.  The reason why the media has to pump ever more violence into us is because we’ve built up a tolerance.  In order to get the same high, we need ever-higher levels?  The television industry had gained its market share through an addictive and toxic ingredient. 

“But just as every cigarette increases the chance that someday you will get lung cancer, every exposure to violence increases the chances that some day a child will behave more violently than they otherwise would.”  According to L.Rowell Huesmann of the University of Michigan.  Huesmann also added, “Not every child who watches a lot of violence or plays a lot of violent games will grow up to be violent.” 

So your child would rather watch “Unsolved Mysteries” as opposed to “Sponge Bob Square Pants.”  Does this mean that he will probably end up in prison some day, because at the age of 11 his mother let him watch an act of violence which led him to decide he should kill somebody he has a conflict with?…You be the judge of that.

So how can children be protected?  According 15% of all parents have used the V-Chip, which was required to be included in all TV sets over 13 inches after January of 2000.  Another 20 percent of parents know they have a V-Chip but haven’t used it. There also is a web-site that might be of some use to those concerned parents, www.tvturnoff.org, that details information on how to control children’s TV viewing access. You may also what to try www.parentstv.org. 

If stopping the amount of violence on television or even limiting it will put an end to the crime in our society, I say go for it.  And if we can prevent children from getting into R-rated movies and from viewing Cinemax’s pornography, then, maybe we will have not only a lower rate of STDs and HIV but a decrease in abortion and un-wanted pregnancy.