It's 2 A.M. and your toddler, who spent the evening watching television with his ten-year-old sister, is having a nightmare. What's going on here? Isn't the "plug-in drug" of the 1960s -- now offering hundreds of channels and a rating system -- a treasured family friend? Far from it. Joanne Cantor, an expert on children and media and a parent herself, offers a wake-up call to parents, teachers, and child-care providers that monitoring what enters their homes is now, more than ever, a genuine obligation. Based on her years of research and her experience as a parent, Cantor offers lots of real-life examples to help readers understand what children are capable of viewing safely. What's more, Cantor offers friendly advice on how to allay fears for different age groups.
Realistic -- television can be a good thing and, let's face it, it's here to stay -- reassuring, authoritative, Cantor is unrelenting in her quest to refine a rating system and offer children the best protection possible from the lifetime of anguish that a misplaced moment of viewing can cause.
