A Good Step Toward Parental TV Control : Industry agrees to rate programs for sex, violence

President Clinton, a good reader of political barometers, seized upon one of the 1996 presidential campaign’s favorite whipping posts--popular culture as represented by television--and whipped gently. Hollywood, after all, has been a big Clinton supporter and can be expected to back him for reelection. Still, evident politics aside, the meeting Thursday between Clinton, Vice President Al Gore and network and cable executives accomplished something worthwhile. The television industry has agreed to voluntarily rate programming on the basis of violence and sexual content, using a system similar to motion picture ratings. This effort should produce some guidance for parents.

Industry executives have until next January to develop the TV ratings system. If they fail, the Federal Communications Commission will convene a panel of experts to design the system. That threat hints at government censorship--a chore better left to creators.

Program labels, like the warning on cigarettes, would be advisory. Parents should be able to determine what their children watch, but the new guidelines shouldn’t be misused to censor fine dramatic fare like “NYPD Blue,” “Law and Order,” “ER,” “Homicide” and other programs that air long after children should be asleep.

The new ratings guide doesn’t address another important concern: positive, educational content for children, which is too hard to find among the more than 600,000 hours of television programming aired every year in this country.

Television ratings must not be oversold. Warnings, no matter how strong, won’t turn off TV sets. The best control a parent has is to hold on to the remote or sit with children by the TV and teach them to watch with a critical eye. But for the parents who can’t be at home with their children as much as they would like--and an increasing number must work long hours--ratings will be a small but welcome help.