Senator Joseph D. Lieberman (D — CT), seems to want some sort of universal ratings system. That would render the V-Chips, which we were forced to buy, obsolete.

The State of the V-Chip Republic

Remember the V-Chip, the television device that was intended to give parents control over all that nasty television content? The one that Congress forced into virtually every television set sold in this country since January, 2000 — with the cost passed to consumers.

Well, guess what. Although 40 percent of American parents now own TV’s with the little buggers nestled inside, a majority (53 percent) who have one don’t know that they have it. Only 17 percent of parents who have one actually use it. This according to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a supporter of the chip.

"Goodness, gracious," you exclaim. "The Congress of the United States of America, in its wisdom, passed a law that mandated this device and now hardly anyone wants to use it? What kind of moral degenerates and ingrates are parents anyway? Why doesn’t Congress pass a new law forcing parents to use it? Why doesn’t Congress…"

Stop! Take your medication. We can fix this.

The folks at Kaiser believe we can fix it with a public education campaign. Yep, that’s what we need, a public education campaign.

Nope, says a spokesman for Representative Edward J. Markey (D. — Mass.), also a supporter of the chip. The television manufacturers must promote the chip in advertising.

Wrong again, says Senator Joseph D. Lieberman (D — Conn.), who seems to want some sort of universal ratings system. That would render the V-Chips, which we were forced to buy, don’t know we have and don’t much want to use, obsolete.

Boy, this is a conundrum. It gets even more confusing when you understand that the instruction manuals that come with each and every one of those V-Chips equipped television sets devote more space to the operation of said chip than any other feature, usually in multiple languages, with accompanying pictures, plus on-screen guide if you bought a good one.

As you might assume, we have a contrarion thought. It does not require an act of Congress or even a hearing or press release. It does not require that the news media interview people who must come up with new ways to meddle in people’s lives to explain away the old ones that didn’t work.

Parents are responsible for the upbringing of their own children. It’s been that way for a while, now. Some do it well, and some do it badly. Those who do it well do so because they understand their responsibility, they take it seriously, and they work hard at it.

Government meddling only allows people to rationalize away their responsibility, as in, "Wow, if this problem is so great that it requires action by Congress, how could I as just a parent possibly deal with it by myself?"

You can. You must. If you do it well, your children will understand that the right of individual freedom comes with the obligation of individual responsibility.

Return to Freedom Line Archive