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<title> PARENTING AND THE VIOLENCE ON TELEVISION </title>
Is violence on television bad for children and to what extent? Recently, reports have shown that this violence affects children, and in some cases, makes them more violent. Even if you and I can't see the connection, it is probably there, and we must control what children watch on television. How we do that is another question that deserves some pondering. 
	In 1995, an article was published in Time Magazine, discussing a proposal from the American Senate, which could help parents controlling what their children were watching on television. The new proposal was the "V-chip", a computer-chip you installed in your television set, and you would be able to choose what programmes you allowed your children to watch. If the programme was too violent, your children could not watch it on that television set. A commission appointed by the government or the broadcasters themselves would do the grading of violence in programmes. 
	Naturally, the V-chip has been criticised. It has been argued that encoding certain programmes is the same as censorship and that is a severe matter in our days. Freedom of speech and press are two important rights we have to consider before adopting the V-chip. There are also some practical problems with this idea. Most homes have more than one television set, and parents would probably not replace every one. It would be easy for children to watch a violent programme on a television set that did not have a V-chip installed. They could also go to a friend's house and watch television there. The broadcasters were not fond of the idea; the V-chip would result in audience decrease. They argued that a V-chip could not tell the difference between films as "Terminator 2" and "Schindler's list". There is violence in both films, but in different ways and for different reasons. In "Schindler's list", the audience is supposed to be aware of the brutality of World War 2, but in "Terminator 2" the audience is revelling in all the violence. Concerning the latter, these types of films are not suitable for children.
	Since I do not have children myself, I find it rather difficult to understand the problem parents seem to have. If they do not want their children to watch violent films or programmes, then they would only have to tell their children that. When my friends were young girls, they were told that they were too young to watch violent programmes on television, so they waited. My own parents did not mind me watching any film, as long as they were there, watching it with me. The fact that I watched violent films during my childhood does not make me more violent than any other person. But I do understand, however, that young boys want to take after their heroes, for example Stallone or Schwartzenegger, and that this could cause problems later on. Young people have problems separating fiction from reality, and concerning films, that fact is understandable, but what about cartoons? In cartoons, the characters often get hit many times and they still do not show any pain. This is hardly realistic, but some children can not understand that. This is a problem for the broadcasters and the producers of the programmes. If a programme is made for children, it should also be suitable, in every aspect, for children. 
	Is a V-chip the only way for parents to control the violence on television? I really do not think so. Simply discussing violence with their children could be very useful, and that brings me to a very important issue concerning television and children. Today, parents do not have much time left for their children after work. Everything in our society goes faster and faster, we have to be more efficient and be careful not to loose our jobs. This takes much energy from us, energy we need for our children. Instead, children are in school most of the days, and then spend their evening watching television. So you could say that television has taken over the parents' role. This is very sad, and I hope that we can construct a better society rather than a V-chip. A V-chip is not a simple solution to the major problem we have concerning violence. Our attitudes have to change, and we have to teach our children what is important in life. After all, they are the ones who will live in the future society we are creating at this very moment.
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