THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603090013
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A8 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Short : 36 lines
Recently the federal government decided that the parents of America are not competent enough to decide what programs are appropriate for their children to view on TV. The government is pushing the V-chip for television sets just like it pushed the Clipper chip for computer modems and other data-transmission products.
The big difference between the V-chip and the Clipper chip is the level of sympathy generated by the fact that we are showing horrible things to our children on TV. No one really cared about the Clipper chip and how it would allow the government to eavesdrop on digital conversations. However, almost everyone agrees that excessive violence on TV is really messing up the kids.
I am a parent of two teenage boys who are interested in everything on TV at least once. My wife and I set rules about TV and what is and is not appropriate to view. We act as the V-chip and that is what a parent is supposed to do. We do not have cable, so most of the junk is not available to our kids.
I am sure that many parents do not monitor what their children watch. However, if the government is left to make decisions for us, then what? I take offense at the government's continued encroachment on our freedoms and rights, and the V-chip is another example of that encroachment. The only acceptable way to ensure that our children do not get saturated with trash is to impose our own parental limits.
DAVID BALLARD
Virginia Beach, March 1, 1996 by CNB