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July 24, 2001

Parents Need a Uniform Ratings System
Controlled by Child Experts, Not Industry

"Dont Make Me Choose Between Being
a Cool Mom and a Good Mom"

Hearing: July 25, 9:30 a.m., Room 342 Dirksen Senate Office Building

Washington, DC The current entertainment ratings systems which consist of the movie, video game, music and television industries each rating their own products -- are very confusing and in desperate need of reform, according to Laura Smit, a suburban Maryland mother who will testify Wednesday before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee. The hearing, chaired by Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), is entitled Rating Entertainment Ratings: How Well Are They Working for Parents, and What Can Be Done to Improve Them?

"As a mother, I want ratings systems that are created by child development experts and people who really care about the needs of both children and parents not by industry officials who are most concerned about maximizing profits," Smit says. Parents will have more confidence in a uniform ratings system created by professionals -- psychologists, teachers, guidance counselors, early childhood experts, and others.

"I want to be a responsible mom, but currently the entertainment industries force me to choose between being a cool mom (who allows her children to watch whatever is marketed to them); a good mom (who says no to many of these products), and a bad mom, who doesnt have the energy to argue all the time," Smit will testify. "Since parents spend billions of dollars a year on entertainment for their children, the least these industries can do is make our lives easier, not harder."

Right now, each ratings system is created and controlled by the industry group that stands to make or lose money depending on how a product is rated: The lower the rating, the higher the profit. The result of this system is known as ratings creep: ever-more violent fare allowed into ever-lower age categories. "We now have a system where the fox guards the chicken house," Smit says. "It is hard for me to trust such a system."

Smit will ask government and industry officials to come up with a labeling system, similar to the labels now printed on food, which would help parents decide whether they want their child to "consume" a particular product. "When my child asks for Haagen Dazs ice cream, I know exactly how many calories of fat and cholesterol they will consume," Smit says. "I would like to have the same kind of information for their entertainment diet."

Smit adds that she is not opposed to artists creating and producing adult movies, video games or lyrics as long as those products are marketed to adults. "What I am opposed to is the marketing of blatantly adult-oriented products to children," Smit says. "As a country, we no longer permit the marketing of cigarettes, alcohol or pornography to children. Similarly, we now know enough about the effects of violent media on childrens aggressive behavior that we can say with certainty that its time to also stop the marketing of adult violent entertainment to children."

A September Federal Trade Commission report found that the "entertainment" industries "pervasively and aggressively" market adult-rated violence to children. An April FTC follow-up report showed that the movie and video game industries had made "some" progress, although much remains to be done. A third FTC report is due out this fall.

Laura Smit is a member of The Lion & Lamb Project, a national, grassroots parents organization working to stop the marketing of violence to children.