The Stone V-Chip

The V-chip is now available for parents to program so that little Hannah is not watching shows with Adult content. The chip is not unlike the stone tablets of do's and don'ts Moses brought down the mountain with him.

Sponge-worthy.

You're having dinner with the wife/husband and kids. The 9-year-old pipes up asking, "What does sponge-worthy mean?" And you know immediately that your kid has been watching a Seinfeld rerun in which Elaine stocks up on contraceptive sponges and discusses which men in her life are "sponge-worthy."

Randomly select a television sitcom in the evening these days, and you'll encounter the Same Old Stuff: sexual situations, adult content, violence and raunchy language. It's been a long time since we were in Green Acres; now its South Park, and going farther south by the season.

This is why every new television set over 13 inches now has a new technology installed that allows parents to block programming they do not want their children to see. It's called the V-chip. Next year it will be in every brand-new set. Right now it's available in adapter boxes for old TVs, too. The V-chip is a sort of parent-in-the-TV gimmick to keep kids from having fun.

Problem is, most...