Viewer discretion: parents should be able to pay for Nickelodeon without having to pony up for MTV.

• Author: Roth, Zachary
• Position: THE NEW PROGRESSIVISM

It seems almost quaint that not too long ago, television producer Steven Bochco could ignite a raging controversy about popular entertainment and public morality with a shot of Dennis Franz's bare butt and the occasional "asshole!" in a line of dialogue. Ten years, one Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction, and countless "Real World" threesomes later, there is hardly a line still uncrossed on television. Nudity? Profanity? Violence, sex, drug use? It's all there, often on some of the best shows television has seen. From "The Wire" to "Weeds" to "The Sopranos," cable and satellite television provide an oasis of smart adult entertainment. That's not to say, however, that parents want their 9-year-olds stumbling across one of these shows on the way to "That's So Raven."

Fully 86 percent of Americans are very or somewhat concerned about what children see on television, according to a Pew Research Center study released earlier this year. And two-thirds say that television entertainment is worse than it was five years ago, with indecency overwhelmingly cited as the reason.

Congress is considering increased fines to address indecency on broadcast television. But for cable channels like MTV, VH1, BET, and others--which are seen by anti-indecency advocates as the worst offenders--that approach won't necessarily work. At the same time, overworked and overextended parents need help. And, at the moment, parents who want to exert some control over what their children see in their own homes have few good options.

Of course, no one's being forced to get cable. But over the last decade or so, the centrality of cable to American life and culture has steadily increased. If you want to watch much of the professional baseball, basketball, or hockey playoffs, for instance, (sometimes even including the finals), you need cable. In-depth financial news, as well as the vast majority of children's programming--including channels such as Nickelodeon and The Disney Channel--are simply not available on broadcast station. That's putting an increasing number of American parents in an unenviable catch-22: Either forego cable and cut themselves off from mainstream American culture or risk exposing their children to material they view as indecent and harmful.

Getting the V-chip to work

Given this reality, the respective responses of conservatives and liberals are almost comically unhelpful for parents. Congress has made noises about extending fines for indecency on broadcast television to cover cable programming. But as Federal Communications...