Study: Media Ratings Systems Need Overhaul
When it comes to ratings of movies, television shows and video games, on many occasions parents and those who create the ratings don't see eye to eye, according to the National Institute on Media and the Family, USA.
That's the result of a new study titled "A Validity Test of Movie, Television, and Video-Game Ratings," published in the most recent edition of the journal Pediatrics. The research, by the National Institute on Media and the Family, concludes that because of the discrepancies evident in its study, a mandatory universal ratings system for all media products needs to be created.
"Our strongest recommendation is for the development of a universal system for rating media products," write Dr. David A. Walsh and Dr. Douglas A. Gentile, who headed the study. "The current alphabet soup of systems is too confusing and even contradictory for parents to use effectively."
In the study, the institute recruited 55 adults -- most of them parents or grandparents -- to rate hundreds of films, television programs and video games. The study then compared these ratings to the industry ratings given to the media.
Study: Many animated films show smoking, drinking
Nearly half of G-rated animated feature films available on videocassette show alcohol and tobacco use as normal behavior and do not convey the long-term consequences of this use, according to a new study published in the most recent edition of the journal Pediatrics.
The study, written by Kimberly M. Thompson and Fumie Yokota with the Harvard School of Public Health, reviewed 81 films that came out between 1937 and 2000. Included in the study are movies ranging from "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) and "Bambi" (1942), to modern films like such as "Anastasia" (1997) and the "Toy Story" series.
While the study concludes that there is a "significant decrease" in the depiction of smoking and drinking in all-ages movie fare, 47 percent of the reviewed movies showed alcohol use; 43 percent showed tobacco use.
Only three of the films contained a message that a character should stop smoking -- none contained messages about the sometimes hazardous effects of drinking. The film with the most references to alcohol was "Sleeping Beauty" (1959), which contained nearly three minutes of "alcohol exposure," according to the study.
"Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland" (1992) had the most "tobacco exposure," with over six minutes of content involving smoking. "Little Nemo," however, was one of only three animated films that contained a character that urged a smoker to stop smoking.
Thirty-two films had zero references to smoking and drinking, including 21 that were released between 1990 and 2000.
The authors said in conclusion that the study was done to make parents aware of the content in films their children watch, and to offer a caution to the film industry.
"Although these results are encouraging, the trends do not provide a strong indication of a commitment from the film industry to eliminate the depiction of alcohol and tobacco use in G-rated films," the study said.
For instance, if a movie was rated G, for general audiences, the study participants watched the film and decided if the material was appropriate for children of all ages.
In that particular case, the study found that 50 percent of the time, parents did not find G-rated movies completely suitable for children ages 3 to 7.
The differences were even more pronounced in television ratings, with parents deeming 60 percent of TV-G fare having some content that was inappropriate for children in 3-7 age group, according to study.
In video games, parents deemed 33 percent of E-rated video games -- for all ages -- contained material inappropriate for children ages 3 to 7.
The study did find one agreement between parents and the ratings systems: When an industry rates a product unsuitable for children, parents unanimously agree.
But the study also pointed out the differences between ratings of different media, claiming the different letters used by each industry to guide parents on content only serve to cause confusion.
A rating of PG for a movie, for instance, is different than a rating of TV-PG for television. Because of this, according to the study, movies rated PG were considered inappropriate for children ages 8-12 only 8 percent of the time; but TV shows rated TV-PG were considered inappropriate for that same age group 38 percent of the time.
"A parent who assumes that a TV-PG rating is the equivalent of a movie PG rating would be mistaken," the study said.
With this in mind, the institute used the study to issue a strongly worded call for an overhaul of the ratings system for all media products to one collective system for movies, television, video games, Internet sites, pay-cable shows, etc.
The study said the time has come to move away from the current voluntary ratings systems followed by media industries and create a system that removes profits from the equation of how to rate a product.
"The economic temptations to down rate a product to capture a larger audience have increased, and, at the same time, each passing season encourages producers to outdo the previous season in edgy material -- with more violence, more sexual situations, and more adult language," the study said.
"The time has come for ratings to move beyond the voluntary arena," it said. "An external rating board with authority to assign and/or approve ratings grows increasingly necessary each year."
The study also called for parents to play a more active role with the current ratings systems.
"Only 32 percent of 10- to 17-year-olds say their parents use the television ratings system, and 90 percent of teenagers say that their parents never check the video game ratings before allowing them to rent or buy computer or video games," the study found.
SOURCE: CNN News
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