BBC News Online: Entertainment: TV and Radio

Parents 'lose control' of children's viewing

Many families rely on traditional ways to monitor viewing

The growth of digital, cable and satellite TV, as well as home computer technology, means parents are increasingly powerless to monitor their children's viewing habits.

A report published jointly by the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC), the Independent Television Commission (ITC) and the BBC, discovered that many parents were not aware of facilities, such as blocks on pay-TV and internet filters, which help them control what their children watch.

The report, Viewers and Family Viewing Policy, found that many families relied on more traditional methods of monitoring including using the 2100 watershed.

'Better understanding'

Sarah Thane ITC director of programmes and cable, said: "In an age when children have a good deal of autonomy, parents find the watershed the best guide to suitability of programmes."

Andrea Millwood Hargrave of the BSC, said: "These findings also point to the need for a better understanding of the part which other means of protecting children from unsuitable material - such as filtering and labelling systems - can play."

Stephen Whittle, BBC controller of editorial policy, said the research indicated that parents continued to value the watershed.

"Ultimately the responsibility for what children watch on television belongs to their parents.

"We as broadcasters have to ensure that parents' expectations of the suitability of pre-watershed programmes for their children to watch are met."