THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, February 4, 1997 TAG: 9702020347
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Bonko
LENGTH: 90 lines
DEAR PARENTS: Beware the new TV ratings. Do not put your trust in the little ``TV-Gs'' and ``TV-PGs'' that show up in the left-hand corner of the screen for 15 seconds as the programs unfold.
The TV ratings, created by a task force led by the president of the Motion Picture Association of America, are all but worthless, according to a Virginia Beach woman who is a professor of television and film at Boston U.
The ratings are way too broad, too general, says Garland Waller, who before she began teaching a course called ``Childhood and Television'' at Boston U., wrote, produced and directed documentaries and specials in children's programming. (Her father is John S. Waller, a local architect. Her mother is Jane Dreifus Smith of Bay Colony).
Waller has won Emmys. She produced ``Superkids'' on a Boston TV station. Producers consult her. She taught at a Virginia Beach junior high school. She was in her hometown not long ago speaking at a book fair.
The subject of her speech: ``Kids and Television: What They See, What They Get, and What You Can Do About It.'' What you can do about TV that galls you is make a fuss. Write, fax or e-mail your complaints to Bill Clinton. Write to your Congressman. Raise hell with sponsors.
Gripe to your local stations. They are obliged by federal regulations to do right by your children. Do you realize that?
Ask for better TV ratings. Demand better TV for your children.
The timing to raise such a ruckus is perfect. The federal bureaucrats have ruled that local stations every week must give kids three hours of TV that is good for them. TV that educates and informs.
The FCC doesn't mean three more hours of ``Taz-Mania.''
Waller, the professor, and Waller the producer, is also Waller, the parent. Waller would never allow her 5-year-old daughter to have a TV set in her room.
Give a kid the opportunity to watch any channel any time of the day without supervision, and you are asking for trouble, said Waller.
``Do that, and you will have a damaged child, a child likely to develop what I call the mean-world syndrome. If they are allowed to watch the scarier and meaner things on television - episodes of ``Homicide: Life on the Street'' or the crazy people on Ricki Lake's show - their concept of the real world will be distorted.''
What's the danger of children watching too much TV? Their imaginations get flabby, like muscles that aren't used enough.
``The less TV a child watches, the more creative the child will be,'' said Waller.
Waller advises parents to look closely at the programming on Nickelodeon and the Disney cable channel, which are generally rated TV-Y (suitable for all children).
``Do not give these channels carte blanche in your home,'' she said.
``Even Disney produces programs that reinforce social stereotypes and have enormous amounts of violence. I've seen programs on Nickelodeon that are also violent, and have sexual innuendo, which is inappropriate for children's programming.''
Parents should feel comfortable with the children's programming on public television, said Waller. Trouble is, the PBS shows are short on the fast-cut, splash and dash, MTV-style images of commercial TV that grab the kids' attention.
How can ``Shining Time Station'' on PBS compete with ``Samurai Pizza Cats'' on another channel?
The Saturday morning and after-school shows such as ``Bugs n' Daffy,'' ``Big Bad Beetle Borgs'' and ``Tiny Toon Adventures'' are not on TV to entertain, said Waller. ``They are images to sell toys.''
She wouldn't dare let her daughter near ``Tiny Toon Adventures.'' Much violence in Toon Town.
Watch everything your children watch, she says. Do not rely on the recently adopted TV Parental Guidelines - the six ratings' icons that precede the start of network and some cable shows.
``These ratings are totally worthless because they do not go deeply into the content of the programming. Television says it can't do the ratings any better. That's ridiculous. Canadian television does it better.
``The industry isn't really interested in meeting the needs of parents or children. It's absurd to give the people who produce and schedule these programs the authority to rate them,'' said Waller. ``It's like having the fox guarding the chicken coop.''
Waller, herself a working mother, knows how hard it is for parents who are out of the home all day to find time to be the TV police. Make time, she said.
``I realize that television is a great baby sitter. But be careful of what programs you set before your children. The rating system that has been created by television will not help you find better programming for your children. The ratings are a sham.''
Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to program ratings that are not a joke: ``The Family Guide to Primetime Television.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Garland Waller, formerly of Virginia Beach, is a Boston U. professor
of TV and film who says the new rating are worthless.