Television back in the day was the practical choice for many families for entertainment and news. However, many have noticed the somewhat violent content on most television programs today, which causes parents and viewers to raise their concerns. Some believe that these shows can influence children and copy them, making them aggressive and violent. These sentiments are immensely likable, but there are others who claim that these influences can be prevented given that there is supervision when watching these shows. Television shows are not excessively violent as these shows undergo classification for their violent content and deem fit for television viewing. Channel providers also allot most of their child-friendly shows in afternoon timeslots and even give them their own child-friendly channels to prevent children from seeing rated content in their television viewing schedules.
Before media channels can air any show which they wish to add to their roster, it must first pass the classification board and identify its viewing rating. Many now applies a content rating system in television programs due to comments on shows with questionable and violent content. In the United States, the TV Parental Guidelines identifies shows that show sexual content, violence, and profanity, while rating them of their severity to guide parents. This rating system is shown in movies, as some are on channels such as HBO, Cinemax and Fox. For these guidelines to be applied, channel owners would have to submit their program proposal and script to the representatives of the Federal Communications Commission (for the US) and selected media experts to identify if they must be rated or not. These ratings, however, do not apply for news programs such as the Daily News or live-sports programs such as NBA games and commentaries. Networks also show the rating given to each program, so parents can tell if their children can be allowed to watch the program.
Since ratings affect viewing habits, channel providers or networks often allot their child-friendly shows on earlier timeslots to entice younger audiences. Earlier timeslots, such as in the mornings and afternoons, is known in studies as timeslots children usually watch television. Most of the violent programs or those rated above Parental Guidance air only in the evenings since children are sleeping at this time. Some examples to this are Cartoon Network's Adult Swim and crime-scene shows such as NCIS and CSI. Movie channels also apply the same programming style to prevent children from viewing violent movies. Networks, nowadays, also create sub-channels that feature only child-friendly shows under their label. Disney Channel's Disney Junior and Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr. are some examples of these sub-networks. Television sets can also be filtered to sort out rated shows.
Given the reasons above, it is safe to say that television shows are not that violent. If they were excessively violent as some would comment upon, they would not even get a chance to be aired unless it is a screened viewing. Networks even take special considerations as seen in there timeslot airings and sub-networks to make sure children would not be exposed to violence. Rating guides in each show is also a precaution if ever children would watch a rated PG show for parents to be guided accordingly. If these precautions are not implemented in the first place, then one will be easily exposed to violent shows even if they are with parents or adults.
