A Cable TV Filter is the Way to Go With Children
I have always had a tendency to spoil my kids, and one way that I have done that was providing cable television with practically every channel known to man. Not only do they have access to all of the cartoon channels and game shows they love, but we also have all of the premium channels as well, and that can present some problems.
My children are well-behaved for the most part, and really don't do much that bothers me. The only time I really find they have a hard time with the rules my wife and I set is when it comes to television, and specifically which shows they can and cannot watch. That's where the cable TV filter comes in.
One of the big problems my kids have is watching scary movies. They love to watch them, but then they have nightmares and want to come and sleep with mom and dad. You can probably imagine the issues that it causes, so as a general rule, we make it so that they are only allowed to watch those kinds of movies in the day time and only when we're around.
Every now and then, they will see a scary movie at a friend's house late at night or at our house when it's late, and it's a pretty rough night. Since I've gotten the cable TV filter, however, that has not been a problem, because I just program in the channels that are acceptable for my kids to watch and block all the ones that are not.
The cable TV filter has proved helpful in other areas as well. One night when my son had a friend over, we let them stay up late, and I heard giggling coming from the living room and the television was turned down real low. I went out there and they were watching a late night movie of a, shall we say, very adult nature. Now, I no longer have to worry about that.
My daughter used to like to watch the premium channels, and I would often find her watching violent movies that were really not appropriate for someone her age. I don't want to completely shelter my kids from these types of movies, but I don't want them to develop bad ideas about the world, either.
The cable TV filter brought about some grumbling from my children when I initially bought it, but the reality is that they still get to watch the vast majority of the programs and channels they always have. They may not get to watch all of the things they want to watch, but for my wife and I, they have access to all of the shows the should be watching for now.