ATTITUDE OF PARENTS AND GUARDIANS TOWARDS PARENTAL GUIDANCE RATINGS IN TV CONTENTS.

ABSTRACT

The introduction of parental guidance ratings has brought about full empowerment of parents and guardians. By utilising these ratings, parents can make choices that align with their values and protect their children from potentially harmful or inappropriate contents. The importance of these ratings cannot be overemphasised, as such, parent and guardians are expected to fully utilise these ratings when monitoring children media consumption. They are expected to develop and maintain a positive attitude towards these ratings. This study seeks to examine the attitude of parents and guardians towards parental guidance ratings in TV contents using Oredo LGA as a case study. The study is anchored onthe Socialjudgement theorywhich basically explains how people judge messages they receive on existing ideas. A simple survey method was used in this research. Questionnaires were administered to a total of 150 respondents in the Local Government Area. From the information gathered from the respondents, the findings of the study revealed that parents and guardians have negative attitudes towards these ratings as they do not properly utilise them. Furthermore, it also revealed thatthe residents of the Local Government Area have high exposure to TV contents as well as good knowledge of and access to parental guidance ratings in TV contents. The research concludes that although these residents recognise the relevance of these ratings but they often neglect them mainly because of poor parental guardianship. The study therefore, recommends that parents should be actively involved in regulating their children viewing habits as well as the content of programs their children watch through these ratings. Regulatory bodies should also state the consequences ofnot adhering to these ratings while broadcasting them.