The Television Police Are Watching You

My children were in the third and fourth grade when they began asking for a television in their rooms. Neither one liked the answer I gave when I told them that there would only be one television and that would be in the living room, where me and their father could make sure they were not watching what we considered to be objectionable material, especially since we subscribed to cable television, including three premium channels. We also felt that if children had their own television that there would be less 'family time' and 'family sharing'.

Of course I got the, "but some of my friends have their own televisions and video game machines in their room", from both Ashley and Matthew, and of course I gave the standard parental answer that I didn't care what their friends parents allowed that we had our own house rules and philosophy and that I was their parent.

One evening my son went into the living room and flipped through the channels until he got to cinemax, one of the premium channels. I took a peek in to see what was coming on and saw the ratings of "v", "SC", and "R", which stood for violence, sexual content, and had a restricted rating. Without waiting to see what the movie was about I immediately told my son to change channels. Matt asked me why he had to change the channel and Ashley, who was walking through the living room at the time, nonchalantly answered, "Moms making you change the channel because the movie either has sex and gory violence in it or both you nitwit!"

Out of the mouth of babes!.