The Ad Council, an agency that assists community service groups in the production of public service announcements, conducted research on television viewing and kids.  It found that the majority of parents, 70-80%, have serious concerns about age-inappropriate television content.

These days, that’s hardly a surprise.

But here’s what is a little surprising:  according to a Kaiser Generation M study, 53% of 8-18 year-olds say their families have no rules about TV watching.

This either means that the parents aren’t doing anything at all about their concerns, or are doing it in such a way that their kids have no idea that anything is being done.  In either case, there’s no dialog in these families about what is and isn’t good for children to watch.  And if these children were to do something wrong, I have to wonder how many parents wouldn’t hesitate to point the finger of blame at television rather than their own lack of guidance.  Or effort.

The Ad Council created a series of spots for this campaign, and you’ve no doubt seen some of them already, but here’s a sample:

No one ever said that everything that is on television is appropriate for everyone.  If you’re a parent and you have no desire to keep an eye on what your kids are watching, do the rest of us a favor:  replace the television with a good collection of books!