Of those, 77 per cent thought rape scenes and “distressing scenes about children” might require a warning, violence was cited by 74 per cent, “extreme sex” by 71 per cent and bad language by 65 per cent. Film and videos are more closely regulated by being coded according to age by the British Board of Film Classification – this started in 1912, although videos have only been classified since 1984.Broadcast warnings of adult material, possibly in the form of symbols in listings pages, are favoured by 94 per cent of people, according to research published in December by the Broadcasting Standards Council. Nothing unsuitable for children should be shown before 9pm, although throughout the evening programmes gradually become more “suitable” for adults. Article 19, the international anti-censorship body, worries that such a measure in Europe would allow countries with repressive regimes to censor any TV programme on satellite which comes over their borders.But there isn’t much protection against kids watching violence, is there?Not a huge amount.

The Independent Television Commission relies on the 9pm watershed, which came into being in about 1960. When a programme exceeding that level was transmitted, a warning would appear on the TV screen obliterating the picture and switching channels.What is the drawback?Civil liberties groups fear it could be sued to censor other programmes. Parents could instruct the V-chip inside their television to refuse all programmes with a violence level above, say, two, or a sex level above, say, five. This code would be transmitted as a signal along with each programme, and picked up by the V-chip.Every category could have a rating of one to five, with five the most liberal and one the most restrictive. This month the European parliament voted overwhelmingly for the compulsory insertion of V-chips into every new TV set sold in Europe under the Television Without Frontiers directive.How would it work?According to amendments proposed by the European Parliament, every programme in Europe would be given a code which could be read by the V-chip, which censors material according to four categories: violence, sex, bad language or an age classification similar to that used for cinema films.

According to campaigners for the chip, by the age of 10 the average American child has seen 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on television.So is the V-chip coming over here?Perhaps. We spend a lot of money on training and accident prevention to ensure that it doesn’t.”n This year’s crashes:10 January: Two Tornado F-3s lost in mid-air collision;11 January: Tornado GR1 lost after simulated “bounce” with two other Tornadoes;23 January: Jaguar lost when inexperienced pilot hit barrier on take- off;13 February: Hawk trainer lost when the pilot ejected following take- off problems;13 February: RN Sea Harrier crashed on take-off in Adriatic18 February: Harrier crashed at RAF Wittering with suspected engine failure;23 February: RN Harrier crashed in Somerset;26 February: Tornado GR-1 crashed in Germany.. What is a V-chip?

Short for Violence Chip, this tiny gadget sits inside a TV set and censors programmes by reading their classification code.
Nifty idea.Yes, it was invented by Professor Tim Collings of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver and costs about 60p to fit when the television is being made. The broadcasting industry in Canada is developing a voluntary classification system in conjunction with the chip with the aim of controlling violence in children’s programmes such as Mighty Morph.Is it spreading ?A mandatory system may soon be in place in the US. President Clinton signed the Telecommunications Bill this month, which means that from 1998 all new TV sets with a screen size of 13 inches or more sold in America will have to have a V-chip. The only thing which could stop the measure now is a constitutional challenge by civil liberties groups – and this is thought unlikely.Clinton’s move is in response to a widespread view in the US that the copious sex and violence on TV are the major reason for the high levels of crime, family breakdown and the perceived decay of American society.