The best way to
ensure that your kids are watching the right media is, of
course, to literally watch what they watch. But most parents
do not have the time or the patience to watch every TV show,
play every video game, or see every video and DVD their
kids use. This is why most media have a ratings system in
place. If the ratings work, all parents should have to do
is look at the label on a media product to see if it's okay
for their youngsters. Unfortunately, today's media ratings
don't make it that simple.
Parents are expected to keep track of an alphabet soup
of ratings. TV-Y7, AO, NC-17, EC-even if you understand
each rating, do you know how they relate to each other?
For example: which TV rating is equivalent to a movie rating
of PG-13? Answer: there isn't a perfect match, but TV-14
is close.
If you do go to the trouble of memorizing each of the ratings
systems, it doesn't mean you can be sure if a specific video
game, TV show or movie is appropriate for your child. That's
because the ratings aren't always accurate. Research we
conducted recently at the National Institute on Media and
the Family shows that parents would rate media much more
strictly than the industries currently do. The parents we
surveyed found that 10% of PG-13 movies should be rated
R, 20% of Teen games should be rated Mature, and half of
all TV-14 programs are not appropriate for teens.
When it comes to accuracy and ease of use, the media ratings
don't make the grade. The problem is the ratings systems
are conducted by the industries that make the media, so
the results are biased and there's no cooperation among
media types. What we need is an independent ratings system,
a universal system that could be applied to any type of
media. Better yet, the ratings should be made by parents
for parents.
I am proud to report that we have launched this very rating
system. It's called KidScore®, and it's available at
www.mediafamily.org. Here's how it works: parents and teachers
can sign up to rate the media they see and submit their
ratings votes online. Raters give a red for stop, yellow
for caution, or green for go in several categories including,
violence, fear, sexual content, and age-appropriateness.
Our Web site tallies the average of all the votes and makes
the results available for anyone who wants to view them.
If you just saw a TV show that's perfect for kids, or you
know of a video game that is filled with adult content,
or you just want to know if the video you planned on renting
is right for your kids, use KidScore today and help us make
the ratings make sense.
David Walsh, Ph.D. is the president and
founder of the National Institute on Media and the Family.
He is a founder of the KidScore ratings system, available
at www.mediafamily.org.
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