Supreme Court Ruling About Children and Television

TV Watch Executive Director, Jim Dyke, issued the following statement today after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that FCC decisions in the FOX and ABC cases were unconstitutionally vague:

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court re-emphasizes what we have been advocating all along:  That parents, not the Government, are the best arbiters of what their children should be watching on TV.  In the one-third of American homes with children, parents have tools such as the V-Chip and content ratings to help them make decisions about what their children watch based on the age of the child and their family’s tastes and values.”

Newly released data from the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board shows:

• 72 percent of parents report having rules about TV use;
• 68 percent of parents say they use the TV ratings system;
• 88 percent of parents are aware that the TV ratings system provides guidance based on the age of the child;
• 36 percent of parents use either a V-Chip or cable/satellite-provided parental controls and
• 95 percent of parents who use the ratings most often find them helpful.

About TV Watch

TV Watch was launched in May 2005 and is the leading national organization to promote parental controls and individual choices as an alternative to increased government regulation of TV content.  TV Watch is a nonpartisan coalition of 27 individuals and organizations including legal and entertainment experts and political and consumer organizations representing more than four million Americans.  Click here for more information about TV Watch.

What are your TV watching rules?