Abstract
In 1997, a system of TV ratings was instituted to label objectionable television content for parents. This study gathered ratings use data from 439 parents of preschool and school-age children. Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory of development is used to interpret the results. Parents most likely to use TV ratings are those who already mediate viewing, a finding with important implications for redefining television's place in Bronfenbrenner's theory, particularly its role as a microsystem setting and mediation's place as a mesosystem factor in child development.
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