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<title> Television and parental responsibility. </title>
Since television first was made possible in Sweden in the mid 1950s it has become one of the most powerful massmedia. Today nearly all people in Sweden have access to television and it has a great impact on, not at least, young children. Television is a great media and that is what most people think. However, to many parents of young children television has become a problem and in many cases a controversial question in the family. Purely hypothetically, it is possible to watch television the whole day and night. Whether the children watch only the children's programs or whether they watch all kinds of programs they easily get stucked in front of television. Many parents regard this as a problem. In the following I will discuss what the difficulties might be and if parental responsibility is the solution the problems.

I would say the main problems are what and how frequently the children are watching television. I believe that most parents agree with me when I say that far away all programs for children are good. As an adult I can make myself an opinion of what is good and what is bad and by this decide which programs my children may watch. This works out rather easily as long as the children are small. However, growing older they very soon realize that there are other programs than the ones picked by their parents. Television has a great influence in what the children play, how they speak, what they wear and even what they believe in. Of course children and teenagers can, and do learn a lot from television. Still, there are programs that contain or supply violence, racism or other values that most parents do not want their children to obtain. Even if the children strictly are watching children's programs there is a risk that this is what they get. Moreover, commercials and news in between or inside the programs often have these contents. So, what small children watch on television is sometimes a problem to their parents.

Thus, many parents are concerned with what their children are watching I think the question about when and how frequently they are watching sometimes tends to worry parents even more. Most parents want their children to do other things than just watch television, for instance, play, read books or do their home-work. Consequently, children in front of television are living evidence of the opposite. Adults, in general, find it more natural to watch television in the evening than in the morning- or day-time. For this reason, they find it even more irritating when their children watch television at that time of the day. What is more, the programs often interferes with other things going on in the family, for example, dinner and departure to school or other activities. Parents do not seldom feel helpless in their efforts to limitate the children's time in front of television. Nevertheless, it is sometimes necessary to interfere depending on both what and how often they watch.

Is parental responsibility the answer to the problems described above? I would answer the question both yes and no. Yes, because parents are responsible for bringing up their children. As a parent it is important to be well-informed about what the children are watching, watch together with them, discuss and explain questions raised by the programs. However, this is not an easy task. Many parents lack of time, patience and knowledge. I do not think it is too uncommon that television functions as a baby-sitter in several families. So, the question about parental responsibility can also be replied in the negative. To protect children from, for instance violence, society has to take responsibility. I suppose this is what society does in Sweden today. Still, many programs adressing directly to children are not suitable for them, for example cartoons, are often extremely violent. 

Finally, television is a great media with a great impact on people. Used in a proper way it brings pleasure and knowledge to adults and children. Still, children are very vulnerable and parents and society have to take responsibility for how TV influences their lives.
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