February 05, 2005

The V-Chip Do any parents actually use it? There was such a big deal about it when it was implimented and the TV ratings boxes still appear, so because I'm not a parent and don't know any parents of young kids I'm curious if this feature is actually used by anyone or was it just another moral panic?
posted by jccalhoun 19 years ago
  • DUKE NUKEM FOREVER
  • Personally, no, and I've never known anybody who did. It's entirely possible that TV manufacturers were saddled with this needlessly, but surely somebody out there uses it.
  • Seems like just another moral panic.
  • For the V Chip to be effective, you would have to have parents that know how to operate an electronic gadget more effectively than their kids are able to. As far as I can tell, such a creature does not exist.
  • Here's an interesting story about the V-Chip and it's non-use by parents almost everywhere: http://slate.msn.com/id/2095396/ Oh, if only my son could watch Davey and Goliath 24/7, what a wonderful, brave, new world this would be. (Insert Santorum joke wherever...)
  • No. No one uses it. It was a total waste.
  • currently, i don't use it... my daughter is too young to be left alone with a tv. i'll probably make use of it once she gets a little older. however, i do believe it serves a useful purpose, i.e., i would rather have the option to firewall mtv from my home than demand its removal from the airwaves.
  • I do use the V-Chip, or at least the TiVO equivalent. I use it to punish my 10 yr old stepdaughter when she does something heinous. The nice thing about the TiVO one is that it remebers the channel settings, and won't let her watch any recorded programs. I usually lock it down so she can only watch PBS. The V-Chip is a great behavior modifier.
  • Ludi, did it occur to you that you are creating an association that educational programming = punishment? Short term fix, long term consequences? I think I would forbid ANY TV viewing after said heinous behavior.
  • Actually, the opposite has happened. I caught her the other day watching Nova on her own. I'll bet she is the only 10 yr old in her class that has a small grasp of string theory.
  • (above Nova sighting was off punishment, btw)
  • Actually, have no kids, but I'd like a reversibility hack for the V-chip, filtering out adolescent plots, reality TV, and senseless dialogue. Oh wait... I have an 'off' button for that...but hope springs eternal that *some* TV content out there would make it through my fantasy filter... PS: (Yay for Ludi's daughter!)
  • this is the best solution! I use it all the time and now can proudly say that kelly ripa's heavily blindered view of the world no longer enters my conciousness every time i enter the break room at work.