Parents favor more regulation of TV

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WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 (UPI) -- U.S. parents strongly favor government regulation of sex and violence on TV, said report released Thursday by the Henry Kaiser J. Family Foundation.

However, the report also found that most parents don't use tools already at their disposal to regulate their own children's viewing.

Researchers reported on a survey that showed 60 percent of parents say they are very concerned about sexual content on TV, and 53 percent say they are very concerned about violent content. Nearly two-thirds -- 63 percent -- said they support new government regulations limiting sexual and violent content on TV during early evenings hours, while 35 percent said they would oppose that sort of regulation.

Half the parents surveyed said they use the TV ratings system to help guide their children's viewing, but only one in four said they use the system often.

Sixty-one percent of parents who said they use the V-Chip to filter their children's viewing choices said they find it useful. But only 15 percent of parents said they use the device and 39 percent didn't know if their TVs had one.