My Mom Covers My Eyes During the "Good Parts"

by Slavica Jovanovic Bubic, Early Childhood Education & Media Coordinator, Monday, March 5, 2007

Recently I was asked to babysit Sherrie, an 8-year-old child. Since my son is now in high school, I was very exited at the prospect of sharing all the magical experiences that come from spending time with young children -- nurturing their early learning abilities and hearing their innocent and honest comments.

When her mom dropped her off, Sherrie brought a backpack of toys, along with several movies. Read Slavica's tips on choosing media for children.

We got along very well and played games, jumped rope, sang silly, high and low voice sounds, watched garden worms and read stories in a tent we made out of two chairs and a blanket. When we were ready for quiet time, we decided to watch one of the movies Sherrie had brought.

Sherrie selected a favorite movie from her backpack. While she was explaining to me in great detail what the movie was about, I checked the video cover for ratings and parental guidelines. When I read that the movie was rated PG 13, I was surprised by how familiar Sherrie was with the film.

I explained to Sherrie that I wasn't comfortable with us watching a film rated PG 13. I shared with her that some of the content might be geared more towards teenagers and adults, and that the rules for choosing movies in our household may be slightly different from the rules in her home. Sherrie responded, "But my mom lets me watch it as long as I watch it with her."

Though I applaud the idea of parents co-viewing movies with children, I still wasn't comfortable with the two of us watching this PG 13 movie. I asked Sherrie, "Why do you think your mom watches movies like this with you?" Sherrie responded, "So she can cover my eyes for the bad parts." And then she added, laughing, "Actually, for the good parts."

I couldn't help but laugh along with Sherrie at her sweet, innocent comment. However, "covering children's eyes during the good parts" of a movie isn't exactly my understanding of what the movie ratings system intends. Though it is always good to co-view media with children and explore answers to their questions about what they're seeing on screen, what messages they're receiving, how that fits with their family's ideas and values, and more, an even better first step is to begin by selecting age-appropriate TV programs and movies.

There are many good resources available to parents on how to understand the current ratings systems for different types of media, as well as how to make decisions that are appropriate for your child. Below are my tips for selecting media for children, and links to some helpful Web sites that describe TV, movie and video game ratings and what they mean.

If you have suggestions about what you'd like to see in future columns about selecting media for children or any other topic, please let me know.

Tips on Selecting Media for Children:

Know your child and how media influences her/him.

If you're not sure whether the programming is appropriate for the children in your care, ask, "What is my child learning from this? Are these ideas that I want to explore with my child at this age?"

Pay attention to movies, TV and video game ratings and what they mean. (See "Ratings Resources" below.)

Make sure the program has age-appropriate messages and images.

Be aware of the content in programs your children want to watch.

Be aware of the amount of time your child spends watching television, as well as the total amount of time your child spends with all screen media (video games, computers, etc.). If your child has already spent an hour playing video games, consider reading with them or playing outside instead of watching a TV program or DVD.

Ratings Resources:

Parental Media Guide

The TV Parental Guidelines

FCC: V-Chip: Viewing Television Responsibly

Motion Picture Association of America's Ratings

Entertainment Software Rating Board's Game Ratings & Descriptor Guide

Suggested Reading on Media Literacy:

For Parents and Kids to Read Together:
Mouse TV by Matt Novak
Arthur's TV Trouble by Marc Brown

For Parents and Caregivers:
Remote Control Childhood? Combating the Hazards of Media Culture by Diane E. Levin
The Smart Parent's Guide to KIDS' TV by Milton Chen, Ph.D.
PBS Parents Guide to Children and Media

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Contact Slavica Jovanovic Bubic

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