As parents, we know we need to monitor the media our children consume, but with constantly emerging devices, it’s easy to forget about the good old fashioned delivery system.  The television.  Thankfully, we have some easy to implement tools at our disposal.  Read further to learn how to utilize them most efficiently for your family.

Set Up Rating & Channel Locks on Your Television
Nudity and explicit sexual situations are commonplace on TV now, even if you have only the most basic cable package. Thanks to the Parental Rating Guidelines enacted by Congress in 1996 and the V-Chip, which was mandated to be included in all television sets starting in 2000, consumers have the power to choose what type of content is viewed in the home.

Now, before you get all worried about not getting to watch whatever show it is that you won’t admit you watch, you should know that you can always override the block by entering the restriction password.  At our house, we have certain channels blocked, any show that is rated TV-14 or higher, and any show that is TV-PG due to sexual situations.  If you would like further information on TV ratings, you can visit http://www.tvguidelines.org/.

TV Ratings – Click to Enlarge

Explanation of Ratings – Click to Enlarge

To view instructions for setting up parental controls on your television, click on the appropriate provider below.

                 

        

Set Up Parental Controls For Streaming Media
Research shows that more and more, people are ditching traditional cable and opting for streaming options to view television.  To filter streaming content, you will have to manage settings on the specific device your family uses.  Most consoles make it pretty easy to enable parental controls.  Click through to read about setting up controls on the Microsoft Xbox, Sony Playstation PS3, and Apple TV.  In these settings you can control not only the games that are played, but also the TV shows and movies accessed through the console, including content from Netflix and Amazon Prime.

And there you have it!  If you have found other methods for monitoring or filtering television, please share them in the comments.  It’s going to take a village to stay on top of keeping our children safe in the media saturated world we live in.

To learn more ways to make technology safe for kids, check out these other posts.

Child Safe Settings for the iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch

Online Safety Essentials – Tips to Protect Your Children Online

Child Safe Settings for Windows Computers

Why You Should Get Email Accounts For Kids

How To Make Google and Chrome Kid Friendly

Why We Must Protect Our Children From Pornography