Thirty years ago, Congress decided that parents deserved a way to monitor what the entertainment industry was beaming into their homes. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 recognized that children are influenced by what they see on television and that the entertainment industry has a role to play in helping parents navigate their children’s media consumption.That law led to the creation of the television content rating system we all know today: TV-G for episodes appropriate for all ages, TV-PG for when parental guidance is suggested, TV-14 for content suitable for teens but not younger children, and TV-MA for episodes inappropriate for minors. The rating system is especially concerned with protecting kids: Children’s media is classified as either TV-Y, meaning suitable for all ages, or TV-Y7, meaning it may frighten children too young to distinguish between reality and make-believe.The TV Oversight Management Board (TVOMB) is in charge of applying these ratings to episodes of television. The TVOMB includes major cable networks and entertainment companies — it is essentially a vehicle for the television industry to classify its own content for the convenience of parents at the behest of Congress. In addition to the general age appropriateness ratings, the TVOMB labels content with shorthand for why each episode received its rating: D for suggestive dialogue, FV for fantasy violence, L for foul language, S for sexual situations, and V for violence.