Study: Parents don't rely on 'V-Chip'

LOS ANGELES - Parents rely more on television ratings and less on the high-tech "V-chip" to choose the shows their children watch, according to a survey released Tuesday. While 40% of American families own a TV set with a V-chip installed to block designated programs with sex or violence, only 17% of those parents use the device, the Kaiser Family Foundation survey found. That means just 7% of all parents have relied on the V-chip, according to the survey. In comparison, more than half of all parents have used TV ratings. "A year and a half after its introduction, the V-chip is being used by a small minority of parents," said foundation president Drew Altman. "TV ratings are more of a mainstream resource for concerned moms and dads." Most parents, more than four out of five, were concerned that their children are being exposed to too much sex and violence on TV and believed that children's behavior is affected by it, the survey found.