"Daaaaaaaad!!! V-Chip! V-Chip!!!"

As the two blogs stated, the V-Chip is only as effective as the parents using it. I think the criticism is accurate, and that the V-Chip is probably not user-friendly enough to appeal to all parents who want to regulate what their children watch. I don't think the TV ratings affect what kids watch because a child is not going to shut off a program he or she wants to watch simply because it's been forbidden by the parents based on an arbitrary rating system. When I was younger I would only want to watch programs more (The Simpsons), if my parents had forbidden me from watching them. Since many parents simply use the television as a babysitter for their children anyway, and usually don't watch programs with them, I think the V-Chip is probably not effective, and raises another, larger issue about lazy parenting in a digital age.