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Fifty years ago there was barely a national market, now there is a fast communicating world wide market, which means there is a lot of readily available information entering everyone’s home every day. Some would say that this technology boom is corrupting many young children’s minds and destroying society morals, which make a parent’s already difficult job a war with their children. New technology has always had its ups and downs in society’s eyes, but it is ultimately a good thing for everybody. A great example of the good coming out of this technology boom in the digital video recorder (or DVR), which allows the owner to control nearly every aspect of what is put on the television screen. With a DVR a parent’s impossible job of controlling the mass media that is television is simplified to the pressing of a few buttons.
Nowadays, one of the most dangerous places for children, of all ages, is at home in front of the television, according to author Ellen Goodman. She feels that the technology and mass media is creating “an increasingly hostile environment” for children and that “’parental responsibility’ is increasing in direct proportion to the irresponsibility of the marketplace”. I feel that technology has given several forms of parental control to the parents through the marketplace.
The DVR, also known as a Tivo, is just a few organs short of being a personal TV babysitter. With a DVR a parent can block certain shows, block all shows with a certain TV rating, or block a channel all together. Lets say you, as a parent, love movies and for that reason you have all the HBO stations, but you know that not everything that is shown on those stations is appropriate for your seven year old daughter. With the DVR you can set up a channel block that will require the viewer to enter a password before they can view that station. I remember when I was younger and the deal I had with my parents was that I could only watch shows with a TV...