Tools available to keep track of programmes for kids

I REFER to the letter “Censors are sleeping on the job” ( The Star, Sept 21). I was intrigued by the line “No matter what our religion or belief, we’ve always felt safe when leaving our children in front of the TV knowing that they would not see or hear something we don’t want them to.”

As a parent myself, I would not rely on censors to control and decide what my child can and cannot see. Whether they are watching TV or surfing the Internet, I believe we parents are the ones who shoulder the responsibility of monitoring and guiding our children in their consumption of available content. The good news is, we parents are empowered to do so.

People who watch TV range from children to working adults to retired senior citizens. Parents should not expect censors to edit all content according to children’s standards because that’s not fair to adult viewers. What we can do, however, is use the knowledge and tools made available to us to prevent our children from accessing such content.

Films on TV channels such as HBO will come with a classification. All the films cited by the writer (Captain Fantastic, War Dogs and The Purge: Anarchy) are classified as 18.

They are thus censored according to that classification whereby adult content such as profanity is allowed (by the Film Censorship Board and the Content Code). Knowing this, as parents, we should not allow our under-aged children to watch these films.

If we are physically there, we can change the channel, switch off the TV or send them off to their room. But even in our absence, we can still control their viewing access by using the parental lock feature, which is made available on the service. Only then can we have peace of mind that our children are only accessing age-appropriate content.

So parents, as much as we’d like to pass on the responsibility to censors, we need to understand that the world does not revolve around us and our children. But the world does come with tools to help us navigate it in the best way for them.

MEDIHA M Ampang