Childhood And TV

Growing up I was always a little more mature than most kids.  As a preteen I was watching shows that had a lot of adult situations.  My parents tried to monitor what I watched, or at least my Mom did.  My Dad never really cared what I watched.  For instance he took me to see Bad Boys 2 in theatres.  At the time I was about 12 or 13.  The only reason I was at all uncomfortable was because I was watching it with my Dad.  On the other hand my Mom wouldn't let me watch 8 Mile and to this day is upset that my Dad let me watch it. 

As a younger child I didn't really watch anything to bad.  Mostly I was outside or cleaning (big neat freak).  In fact I don't remember watching TV much as a young adult at all.  So it didn't affect much of my viewing habits now.  I guess I have always been drawn to mysteries and adult points of view/situations.

TV Ratings

Many people see TV ratings that are often presented in TV programs and always before movies.  I know that not many people pay them any regard unless it's an rated R program, and they have particularly young children in the house.  I know from personal experience that not many parents pay any real attention to this.  My parents never seemed too.  I remember being 12 years old and watching American Pie.  I remember when an R rated movie would come out I wouldn't worry too much because I knew I could con my parents into renting it or buying it.
The biggest problem I have heard from people about the TV ratings is that a lot of PG-13 movies can be worse than R movies.  The parents that DO trust the ratings have been upset that their children can go to a movie theatre in a trusted manner and coming out seeing more violent/sexual images than some R movies.  This didn't surprise me because even some of my friends commented on this issue, and I agreed with them.  Not that any of us were complaining, we just thought that it was particularly funny.