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HomeTopicsTelevisionParental Controls
Parental Controls: Keeping Young Viewers SafeToday's world moves at an extremely fast pace, with data, information and images being produced and processed at lighting speed. With a variety of mediums available to transmit information (such as the Internet, TV, movies and music), it is tough to consistently patrol content to make sure it is suitable for younger eyes and ears.
Luckily, parents do have some tools that can help them create safe boundaries while still giving their children the opportunity to use TVs and computers for fun and educational purposes. Parental controls are becoming more widespread and sophisticated, giving parents the option to restrict the amount and type of content to which their children are exposed. Television Parental ControlsParental controls are available for several different mediums, including TV, video game systems and computers. Many televisions or cable providers have built-in parental controls that only require programming. For example, the V-chip parental control device introduced in 2000 has largely been incorporated into televisions and TV service provider systems.
Parental control devices allow parents to block shows based on their ratings. Here's a breakdown of the television ratings system:
Although different parental control devices have different instructions for operation, most devices can be programmed easily using your remote control. Once programmed, your child will not be able to view programs that you consider inappropriate. Older members of the household will be able to access programs by entering a code.
Online Parental Control DevicesIn addition to using parental controls to limit television viewing, parents can use parental controls to control a child's Internet and e-mail access. Most major e-mail systems have parental controls that allow parents to block unwanted and suggestive material from popping up into a child's e-mail inbox. E-mail controls also give parents the opportunity to approve or block anyone attempting to e-mail the child's address.
Search engines can be limited as well, allowing parents to limit access to Web sites that meet predetermined criteria. Because many of these systems come built-in to computers, parents only to locate and activate them. Keep in mind that online parental controls do have some drawbacks. The primary problem is that when certain words are blocked, all uses of that word may be blocked. For example, a child may be doing a report on breast cancer. If the word "breast" is blocked to prevent any inappropriate Web sites from popping up on a search, it could also block out all the legitimate sites dealing with breast cancer, breast cancer treatment and breast cancer awareness.
Getting Around Parental ControlsOf course, there are ways in which children can get around parental controls and access inappropriate programming and content. If the child learns the code used to access adult content, he can view TV shows and movies intended for more mature audiences. Likewise, if your child is computer-savvy he can probably find ways to disable an online parental control device.
Remember that parental controls are tools to help you monitor your child's activities and interactions. They are meant to augment your teaching methods and safety philosophies, rather than be a substitution for active parenting. Have an open dialogue with your children about the parameters you feel are healthy as they learn and explore different media formats. This can help them understand some of the reasons you are instituting restrictions (to prevent inappropriate communication by strangers, to make sure they view only content appropriate for their age group, etc.) while preventing them from limiting their attempts to bypass parental controls. |
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