Parents versus pop culture.(INSIDER REPORT)

A recent survey of over 2,000 demographically diverse mothers shows that parents are declaring war on the violence, hypersexuality, and obscenity so prevalent on TV, the Internet, the big screen, video games and in music, books, and advertising. Erika Waller of Brentwood, Tennessee, has four children, and expresses the frustration felt by many parents when she describes TV as the hardest media to control. "There are no limits anymore," said Waller.

While the entertainment (using that term rather loosely) industry isn't setting appropriate limits, parents are. Installing parental TV and Internet blockers, carefully screening movies and games, and helping children choose appropriate books at the library are just some of the techniques parents are using to limit their children's exposure to what Bob Smithouser, print editor for Focus on the Family's Plugged In publication, calls "raunch, violence and hate."

But, as Smithouser points out, simply shielding children from pop culture isn't enough. Instead, he encourages parents to teach discernment, which "leads to critical thinking based on ...