Jane Doe

Professor Runyon

English 102

April 13, 2004

Justification for a New Television-Rating System

Parents and the television industry need to work together to solve the television ratings crisis. Through this team work, both sides can see where the problems lie and then attempt to fix them. Evaluating and adopting new rating standards does not need to be one-sided. Only by working together can both sides be satisfied with a new rating system.

Serious changes need to he made in the current rating system because it is too confusing. One of the top complaints from parents has been how they do not understand the current rating system. Steyer reports a startling statistic in his book. He says the number of parents who understood the television rating system dropped from 70% in 1997 to 50% in 2000 (Steyer 162). This statistic maybe a few years old, but it shows the lack of understanding parents have. Obviously, the current regulations do not require sufficient explanation of the rating system to parents. Steyer also states that many parents are unaware of what most of their children's shows are rated (Steyer 62). This misunderstanding may be due to parents not caring, but one cannot rule out the fact that the reason why parents do not know the ratings is due to their lack of understanding and confusion. The fact is, if someone does not understand a rule or regulation, that person has extreme difficulty implementing or following it. The problem parents have with the rating system is quite understandable. The confusion over the numbers and letters makes apply it to their child's viewing habits difficult.

Kathryn Montgomery, President of the Center for Media Education, expresses another aspect of the rating system that is confusing to parents. She says, "With this current system parents are not able to know what is really in a program" (qtd. in Camia). Not knowing what is in a program goes back to the confusing numbers and letters system. Simple numbers and letters do not tell a parent what is really in a program, making harder the ability to distinguish the appropriateness of the show. Jost provides a good example of this in his research. Shows like "Touched by an Angel" and "NYPD Blue" have similar content ratings, such as V for violence. While this rating may be accurate, one is a family oriented show and the other an adult police drama. A distinction needs to he made using descriptive words like "occasional," "frequent," and "widespread" (Jost). "Touched by an Angel" and ``NYPD Blue" are very different shows. To give them the same content rating when they obviously are very different in nature is not fair. Clearly parents need to understand the distinction in show which are family appropriate in contrast to those which are adult programming. The current rating system is extremely confusing for parents to use. Parents are confused over the system and how it is applied to television shows. We do not need to lump family programs in with adult programs just because the system allows for no gradation in ratings.

A stiffer rating system is also needed because it would help parents monitor the amount of violence, inappropriate language, and sexually explicit content their child watches. After the Telecommunications Act was passed, parents expressed a need for knowing the true content of a show. In an effort to appease parents, the content descriptors were added. The assumption was that this additional information about the content rating would solve the problem. Unfortunately, a 1998 report on the state of children's televison says otherwise. According to the report, 75 % of children’s programming contains three or more violent acts. These shows also have little indication of what type of violence is in the programs (Grossman and Degaetano 88-89). The television industry is not using the content ratings to inform parents of a show’s content. Camia says that less than a quarter of television shows use the letter rating system with the age-based rating system (Camia). A new mandatory system is needed so parents will be provided with information regarding a show’s content. With the current system, parents may be fooled into thinking a program is appropriate because the content is not indicated. With more and more shows containing sex and violence, society must have methods shielding children from the controversial content. A study in 2001 by The Parents Television Council reported that prime time shows are dealing with more sex and pornography than a few years ago (Steyer 61). Parents do not want their child exposed to this type of material. Study after study has been done on the negative effects that inappropriate material can have on a child. Grossman and Degaetano write of some of the negative effects television can have on a child. They say that exposure to inappropriate programming can cause problems with the development of children, who can easily become culturally acceptive of violence and desensitized (Grossman, and Degaetano 88-89). To prevent this from happening, parents can limit the amount of inappropriate material their child watches. Parents need help with this. The current system is too haphazard in labeling violence, language, and sexual content.

When we look at other successful rating systems, one of the first to come to mind is the motion picture industry. If the motion picture industry can successfully rate their movies, then the television industry can successfully rate their shows. The motion picture industry has universal guidelines that are applied to every movie. With a clear-cut system, people will have a greater chance of understanding the rules and applying them to their life. Richard Corliss and Elizabeth Bland's article explain part of the motion pictures rating system. Movies are rated by the Motion Picture Association which designates films as G, PG, PG-13, or R (Corliss and Bland). One of the main differences between the motion picture industry and the television industry rating system is who rates them. An outside source rates movies (Motion Picture Association), while an inside source rates television shows (producers/networks). The movie-rating system is more objective because the person who rates the movie has no ties to it. This distancing results in a more accurate, truer rating that parents can trust. Bednarski also points out that another success of the movie-rating system is the display of the rating. Movie ratings fill the screen, and television ratings are only displayed in a small box in the corner (Bednarski). This less prominent label makes difficult a parent’s ability to see a movie rating when it covers the screen. The television industry needs to take a serious look at the motion picture industry’s rating system. Their system seems to be easier to understand, more consistent, and more available for parents to review.

A new television rating system is of the utmost importance. As a nation, we need to be concerned about what our young people are exposed to on television. Grossman and Degaetano state that by age 18 a child has seen 200,000 acts of television violence and 40,000 murders (Grossman, and Degaetano 88-89). This is entirely too much violence, for a child to see. Our negligence permits the television industry to escape its responsibilities and allows our children to be exposed to content of which we are unaware due to their haphazard labeling system. The time has come for parents to take a stand against the television industry. Parents do their best to protect their children from danger. They try to keep their children away from violent situations, guns, language, sex, and knives. Parents should not have to live in fear that their child could possibly be exposed to these things on the television. If the content of television shows continues to go unlabeled, we run a higher risk of this happening. The television industry needs a new, stricter rating system for the safety and protection of our nation’s young people.

Works Cited

Bednarski. PJ. “Oh, Is TV Naughty: Not That Anyone Cares about That These Days." Broadcasting and Cable 29 Sept. 2003:37. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. OCTC LRC. 3 Feb. 2004 <http://ww^-w.epnet.com>.

Camia, Catalina. "Parents Do Not Find New Television Ratings System Helpful, Study Says." Dallas Morning News 24 Sept. 1998: Newspaper Source. EBSCO. OCTC LRC. 4 Feb 2004 <http://www.epnet.com/>.

Corliss, Richard, and Elizabeth L. Bland. "Give The Rating System an X.” Time 27 Aug. 1990:56. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. OCTC L,RC. 3 Mar. 2004 <http://www.epnet.com>.

Grossmart, Dave, and Gloria Degaetano. StopTeaching Our Kids to Kill: A Call to Action against TV, Movie, and Video Game Violence. New York: Crown, 1999.

Jost, Kenneth. "Children's Television." The CQ Researcher Online 7.31(1997): OCTC LRC. 4 Feb. 2004 <http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher>.

Steyer, James P. The Other Parent: The Inside Story of the Media's Effect on Our Children. NewYork: Atria, 2002.