FEW PARENTS RELYING ON TV RATINGS.Byline: Lawrie Mifflin The New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times Six weeks after the television industry began displaying rating codes on screen to alert parents to programs that might be unsuitable for children, most parents say they do not use the ratings system for guidance, even though nearly all say they applaud the system in concept. In interviews around the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and in a new poll conducted by The New York Times, many parents also said they would prefer to see two separate rating labels, for violence and for sexual content, instead of the single, age-specific labels now in use. Some educators, members of Congress and advocates for children have lobbied for separate labels, too, but the industry has resisted efforts to adopt such a system. In the interviews, some parents said they found the system confusing con·fuse v. con·fused, con·fus·ing, con·fus·es v.tr. 1. a. To cause to be unable to think with clarity or act with intelligence or understanding; throw off. b. , in part because many shows are still unrated, and in part because they do not yet understand the labels. Some also said they did not trust the ratings, because they were applied by television producers or networks rather than an independent body. ``I'm aware of the rating system, but I'm not paying any attention to it,'' said Kim Robaina of Visalia, the mother of four daughters under 12 years of age. ``I think it's a good try to have some kind of ratings, but the best way to monitor what kids are watching is to sit down and watch the TV with them.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. the poll, 86 percent of the parents approve of the idea of such ratings, and 73 percent say they have noticed the ratings on their television screens, but only 37 percent say they have used the ratings to guide their viewing choices. The nationwide poll of 394 parents of children between the ages of 2 and 17 was taken by telephone Tuesday and Wednesday, and had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 5 percentage points. Rating designations, or icons, like TV-G TV-G Suitable for All Viewers (television rating) or TV-PG, now appear in the upper-left corner of the television screen for 15 seconds at the start of many shows, including almost all those in prime time. News and sports programs are exempt. The ratings also appear in most print and electronic television program listings, and in TV Guide, although erratically. The Daily News plans to add them in March. Some networks have been broadcasting public service announcements to remind parents of the system. In the three dozen interviews with parents in Alabama Alabama, indigenous people of North America Alabama (ăləbăm`ə), indigenous people of North America whose language belongs to the Muskogean branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). , California, Indiana, Texas and New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. , the word commonly applied to the ratings system was ``irrelevant.'' Lisa Davis, a public-radio programming director in Birmingham, Ala ALA aminolevulinic acid. Ala alanine. ala (a´lah) pl. a´lae [L.] a winglike process. ., and the mother of an 8-year-old boy, echoed many parents' reaction in saying: ``I've seen the icons, but I haven't really paid them any attention. I think they're irrelevant to the way we watch TV. I'm not about to turn over responsibility for what my child watches to a ratings system.'' But some shared the view of Susan Pitts, another Birmingham mother, who said, ``Parents need all the help they can get.'' The ratings system is meant to be used with an electronic device called a v-chip that will allow parents to block all programs above a certain ratings level. The Telecommunications Act There are several laws named the Telecommunications Act
While an industry committee was designing the rating system last year, many educators, psychologists This list includes notable psychologists and contributors to psychology, some of whom may not have thought of themselves primarily as psychologists but are included here because of their important contributions to the discipline. and advocates for children lobbied for labels specifying sexual content, violence or foul language. But industry leaders said a system of age-appropriate labels would be simpler for parents to understand and easier for newspapers to print in their program grid, and in any case was the only system acceptable to the industry's diverse constituents. CAPTION(S): Box Box: Plugging into the TV rating system Knight=Ridder Tribune tribune, in ancient Rome, one of various officers. The history of the office of tribune is closely associated with the struggle of the plebs against the patrician class to achieve a more equitable position in the state. From c.508 B.C. Graphics Network |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion