You Watched What!?!

You might be surprised to find out what your children watch on the television when you aren't around.

I remember being excited when my mother went back to school to get another degree because it left me alone with my dad on Wednesday nights, the very night that Beverly Hills 90210 was on.... a show I wasn't allowed to watch. I remember that I couldn't ever watch the previews for the next week's show because I needed to run up the stairs in order to be in my room by the time my mom got home from class.

Now, not all dads are as clueless as mine, however if no parent is home, what is to stop a child from watching unapproved television? Enter... the V-Chip, a government required chip on all televisions bigger than 13 inches made after 2001.

The V-chip allows parents or other caregivers to block programming on their televisions that they don’t want children to watch. If you have concerns about what your children are watching, take the time to look at the V-chip FCC web page, where it describes how to use it and how they determine ratings for the different shows.

As a parent, you are the first line of defense against things that you are not comfortable with... and we love to provide you with information about different tools available to help. Please share other resources with area parents by commenting on this post!