Majority of parents concerned about the amount of sex and violence children are exposed to on TV

Sep 23 2004

A majority of parents say they are "very" concerned about the amount of sex (60%) and violence (53%) their children are exposed to on TV, according to a new national survey of parents released today by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

And after being read arguments on both sides of the issue, nearly two-thirds of parents (63%) say they favor new regulations to limit the amount of sex and violence in TV shows during the early evening hours, when children are most likely to be watching (35% are opposed).

Overall parents are more concerned about inappropriate content on TV than in other media: 34% say TV concerns them most, compared to 16% who say the Internet, 10% movies, 7% music, and 5% video games. Half (50%) of all parents say they have used the TV ratings to help guide their children's viewing, including one in four (24%) who say they use them "often." While use of the V-Chip has increased substantially since 2001 (when 7% of all parents said they used it), it remains modest at just 15% of all parents, or about four in 10 (42%) of those who report having a V-Chip equipped TV.

One specific incident that sparked a great deal of controversy - the Janet Jackson incident at this year's Super Bowl - was of less concern to parents with only 17% "very" concerned about the impact of the incident on their children.

The survey - Parents, Media, and Public Policy - is being released at a briefing that includes Senator Sam Brownback, FCC Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy, former Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association Jack Valenti, Senior Vice President at News Corporation Ellen Agress, and Director of the Children & the Media Program at Children Now Patti Miller.

"What concerns parents most is not isolated incidents, but the sex and violence they believe their kids are exposed to every day in the shows they regularly watch," said Vicky Rideout, Vice President and Director of the Kaiser Family Foundation's Program for the Study of Entertainment Media and Health. "While many parents have used the ratings or the V-Chip, too many still don't know what the ratings mean or even that their TV includes a V-Chip," she added.

Additional findings:

Public Policy

• A majority (55%) of parents say ratings should be displayed more prominently and 57% say they'd rather keep the current rating systems than switch to a single rating for TV, movies, video games, and music (34% favor the single rating).
• When read the competing arguments for subjecting cable TV to the same content standards as broadcasters, half of all parents (52%) say that cable should be treated the same, while 43% say it should not.
• Most parents who have used the TV ratings find them either "very" (38%) or "somewhat" (50%) useful.
• About half (52%) of all parents say most TV shows are rated accurately, while about four in ten (39%) say most are not.
• Many parents don't understand what the various ratings guidelines mean. For example, 28% of parents of young children (2-6 years old) know what the rating TV-Y7 means (directed to children age 7 and older) while 13% think it means the opposite (directed to children under 7); and only 12% know that the rating FV ("fantasy violence") is related to violent content, while 8% think it means "family viewing."

V-Chip

• Fifteen percent of all parents have used the V-Chip, which was required to be included in all TV sets over 13 inches after January 2000; one in four (26%) haven't bought a new TV since then, 39% have bought a new TV, but don't think it includes a V-Chip, and 20% know they have a V-Chip, but haven't used it. Among those who have a V-Chip and know it, 42% have used it. Nearly two-thirds (61%) of parents who have used the V-Chip say they found it "very" useful.

News violence

• Three in ten parents (31%) say they are "very" concerned about their children's exposure to graphic news stories from Iraq, such as the beheadings of hostages or abuse of Iraqi prisoners. Most parents (68%) say their children haven't viewed such images, while 29% say they have (with 20% saying it didn't have any negative effect and 8% saying it had a "somewhat" or "very" negative effect).

Young children

• Very few (6%) parents of children under two are aware that the American Academy of Pediatrics has recommended no TV viewing for children that age.

Food advertising

• Half (49%) of parents say children's food choices and eating habits are influenced "a lot" by food advertising on TV, and a third (33%) say their children "often" ask them to buy things at the grocery store that they've seen in TV ads. But most (56%) oppose policies restricting "junk food" ads on children's TV (37% are in favor of restrictions).

Public service announcements

• A majority of parents (59%) believe TV stations should be required to devote one minute per hour in prime time to public service announcements.

Legislative and Regulatory Activity on Indecency

Both the House and Senate have passed "indecency" legislation that would significantly increase fines for the broadcast of indecent material on television or radio, but it is uncertain whether the legislation will be reported out of conference committee before this session of Congress adjourns in October. The Senate version requires the FCC to determine how effective the V-Chip is at blocking violence; if it finds the Chip is ineffective, the Commission is required to set standards limiting the amount of violence allowed on both cable and broadcast television before 10 p.m. The FCC has issued a Notice of Inquiry on television violence, the TV ratings system, and the V-Chip, with comments due by October 15th.

Methodology

Parents, Media and Public Policy is a nationally representative, random digit dial telephone survey of 1,001 parents of children ages 2-17. The survey was designed and analyzed by staff at the Kaiser Family Foundation in consultation with Princeton Survey Research Associates. Interviews were conducted by Braun Research, Inc. from July 12 to August 3, 2004. The margin of sampling error for the full survey is +/- 3.6%, and higher for subsets. Note that sampling error is only one +of many potential sources of error in this or any other public opinion poll.