Among these are news and sport programs. Working with the TV ratings system is the V-chip. The V-chip is a device within a television set. Parents can use the V-chip with the ratings system to block certain programs that have a specific rating. Congress decided there was a need for a V-chip after making various findings.
Television influences children's perception of the values of behavior that is common and acceptable.
Television station operators, cable television system operators, and video programmers should follow practices in connection with video programming that take into consideration that television broadcast and cable programming has established a uniquely pervasive presence in the lives of American children. The average American child is exposed to 25 hours of television each week and some children are exposed to as much as 11 hour of television a day. Studies have shown that children exposed to violent video programming at a young age have a higher tendency for violent and aggressive behavior later in life that children not so exposed, and that children exposed to violent video programming are prone to assume that acts of violence are acceptable behavior. Children in the United States are, on average, exposed to an estimated 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television by the time the child completes elementary school. Studies indicate that the pervasiveness and casual treatment of sexual material on television affect children, eroding the ability of parents to develop responsible attitudes and behavior in their children.