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Several respondents to this topic have seemed to suggest that it is
the responsibility of parents and children to determine how they
will interact with television.  While there is certainly merit in
this idea, I wonder if it tends to let television producers off the
hook in regard to their responsibility for what they broadcast.
 
Television is in the public domain and is not simply a matter of
"personal choice".  Even if children are limited by their parents
in their viewing, friends, classmates and others are influenced
by what television projects.  The idea that viewing is only a
personal matter negates the dynamic interrelation that occurs
between media and society, and although it is not simple to
understand how this dynamic operates it must be addressed within
a social as well as a personal context.