Since 2000, the FCC has required that all televisions 13 inches or larger contain a V-Chip. The V-Chip allows parents to block programming on their televisions that they don't want their children to watch. Most television programs today are assigned a rating according to a system established by the television industry. Parents can block access to programs containing certain ratings. In 1996, Congress asked the television industry to establish a voluntary rating system which are known as 'TV Parental Guidelines'. The ratings range from TV-Y (all children) to TV-MA (mature audience only). The ratings are based upon language, violence, sexual situations, and suggestive dialogue. Have you ever used the v-chip? Probably not. A study in March of 2008 by the Parents Television Council found that 88% of people in a Zogby International poll did not use the V-Chip at all. The Parents Television Council also voiced its displeasure in a two-page letter to Congress in 2013 that stated "The television content rating system is in urgent need of substantial reform". Hundreds of millions of dollars (550 million in education alone) has been spent on the v-Chip, and many laws passed. Was it worth it or was it just more Big Government?
Ironically, it was the year that Bill Clinton declared "The era of big Government is over", that h urged Congress to pass the V-Chip initiative. In his 1996 state of the union address, President Clinton called on congress to pass the requirement for a V-chip in TV sets. He told congress that this was not government censorship, but rather way to enable more parental responsibility.
"I call on Congress to pass the requirement for a V-chip in TV sets so that parents can screen out programs they believe are inappropriate for their children. When parents control what their young children see, that is not censorship; that is enabling parents to assume more personal responsibility for their children's upbringing. And I urge them to do it. The Vchip requirement is part of the important telecommunications bill now pending in this Congress. It has bipartisan support, and I urge you to pass it now.http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=53091
To make the V-chip work, I challenge the broadcast industry to do what movies have done, to identify your program in ways that help parents to protect their children. And I invite the leaders of major media corporations in the entertainment industry to come to the White House next month to work with us in a positive way on concrete ways to improve what our children see on television. I am ready to work with you."
https://www.fcc.gov/guides/v-chip-putting-restrictions-what-your-children-watch
http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/news/release/2007/0315.asp
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865564776/A-15-year-failure-Parents-Television-Council-says-TV-content-ratings-are-flawed.html?pg=all
http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/v-chip.jpg
http://assets.vg247.com/current//2009/08/fcc.jpg
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