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<title> Can we exchange parents for a V chip? </title>
Children and their relationship to television has changed in the last five to ten years. Most noticeable is the increased time they spend in front of the television and what the watch. The V chip, which makes it possible for adults to choose which violence level their own television is suppose to achieve, is an effort to protect young viewers from unsuitable programs. One point of this issue, which I found very interesting, is if the V chip actually will help to reduce children's contact with violence. Is it not mainly the parents responsibility to protect their children from horror movies, bloody actions and violent episodes? 
	 When I was little children watched educated (but still very nice) programs, series like "The little house out in the prairie" and sometimes cartoons and the television was just on for a couple of hours a day. Nowadays the channels are offering a wide selection to choose from almost twenty four hours a day. The actions in children programs have changed and many of them contain cruel situations, physic and mental violence and bad language. By using the V chip adults can lock out programs which contain unsuitable actions and by doing this they can control their children's viewing. Even if this seems to be a good and rather simple solution to protect children from violence on television there are some complications.
	 The V chip can not tell the difference between different kinds of violence. For some, Schindler's List might be the most horrible thing to watch while others think that Tom and Jerry are very hard and cruel when they hit their heads with frying pans. The news on television can also be very inappropriate for children and even if there is a V chip installed the violence will go through. Many families have got more than one television and it can be too expensive for them to install V chips in all of them.
	 Children and their relationship to television is a matter of age. The V chip might be a very good idea to protect the youngest, who are not able to get hold of similar violent technological products. But when they get older and find fighting and rough situations very interesting it is difficult to guard them from nasty television actions. All the videos and computer games will still be accessible which is very important to keep in mind. Just because a V chip is installed it does not mean you can leave your children in front of the television for a whole afternoon. Parents are more flexible and got functions that a data chip does not conquer.
	 In what way violence on television influence children has been discussed for many years. Young children have been killed and psychical abused by their friends in the same age and their explanations have been that they thought it was just for fun. Children's attitudes towards each other have become much harder and the language is often full of insults and swearwords. Some people say this is a consequence of watching bad programs and shows while some assert that other factors like adults behaviour is the main reason for children acting violent. If the fact is, that for example, the children who killed little Kevin in Arvika, Sweden last year were under the influence of an action movie, as some assert, this is a very frightened development. Could a V chip has prevented this terrible accident? Probably not, it takes more than that to avert tragedies like this.
	 Television and the violence it sometimes show does of course not bear all the responsibility for the way some children behave today. Who are suppose to care about what the little ones are doing? Not a V chip, it is the parents' responsibility. If every parent or adult brought up their children with understanding, love and respect children would not become violent and use swearwords at young age. Of course the V chip can help to avoid unsuitable things to appear on the television screen, but it can not entirely protect them from seeing bad and horrible things that might upset or inspire them. A robot, computer or any other machine can help, but everyone have to be aware of that it can never take over human beings functions.
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