ABSTRACT
At the core of every parental control mechanism lies its rating or labelling system. That system both identifies the appropriateness of media content for children and determines the means by which children’s access to that content may be controlled. Rating systems define whether a programme can be shown within the watershed, how it should be encoded for a specific technical device, and what type of visual warning system should be used. They should give sufficient information to empower parents to make efficient and deliberative decisions concerning children’s access to media content. The challenge of every rating design is thus to develop a system complex enough to give relatively detailed information about a programme, but still simple enough for both labellers and parents to use.
