With the increase of sex and violence on television, or as
George Carlin likes to delicately put it, "Sax and Violins", parents
have to be more careful than ever about what they allow their children to
watch. But how do they do that? Unless
they've got some kind of guide or know every movie that's ever come out there
is just no way they can possibly know if a movie or program is suitable for
their child.
The TV rating system to the rescue
Essentially, the TV rating system is a system put in place
that evaluates a program’s sex and violence content and rates the program
accordingly. This rating is then
displayed, usually at the left hand corner of your TV screen. This way, when you turn a program on you will
immediately know if it is something you want your child to watch. How?
Well, the ratings are pretty well defined, though there are some gray
areas.
Let's cover the basic ratings so you have an idea of what to
expect.
TV Y - This is the lowest or least offensive rating. A program with a TV Y rating is deemed to be
appropriate for children of all ages.
This can be either animated or live action. The themes of these programs are usually also
geared to a very young audience between the ages of 2 and 6. This program should in no way frighten a
young child.
TV Y7 - This program is usually designed for children age 7
and older. Usually this type of program
is geared to children who can differentiate between make believe and
reality. There may be some mild fantasy
themes or comedic violence. It might be
possible for children under 7 to be scared by these shows. If a show has a great deal of fantasy
violence then it may be given a qualifier to this rating and be designated TV
Y7 FV.
TV G - This program is for people of all ages. It is not specifically intended for young
children but should be okay for them to watch.
These are usually your family oriented shows that rarely if ever contain
themes that may be inappropriate for children.
TV PG - This program may contain material that is not
suitable for young children like mild violence or suggestions of sex. Parents may want to watch these shows with
their children to answer any questions they may have about it. These programs occasionally will also have
some suggestive language. TV PG shows
will usually have a qualifier attached to them as well such as V for mild
violence, L for language or S for sexual situations.
TV 14 - This program is for children over the age of
14. Parents are strongly cautioned to
watch these shows with their kids. These
programs usually have either intense violence, strong sexual situations, strong
language or very suggestive dialogue.
TV MA - These programs are intended for mature audiences
only. These are usually not for children
under 17 and usually contain graphic violence, explicit sex, or very crude
language. Qualifiers will be attached to
these as well so the parent knows what is contained. But most likely it won't matter as they
probably won't want their kids to watch these shows anyway.
With the above guidelines, parents should have no trouble
monitoring what they want their children to watch.
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