<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by curt:
Originally posted by littleleaguemom:
Even thirty years ago, the stuff on European TV and in newspapers/magazines was commonly unsuitable for children.</font>
Huh??? You mean it's even unsuitable for our european children?? 
How come, most kids here are still pretty sane after being confronted with our TV and newspapers/magazines? On the opposite, I'd say that especially american TV is unsuitable for children as it is much more violent and brutal.
We don't have cable and allow very little TV at home, as US TV is mostly mindless trash. I don't think it is suitable for anyone. I've watched maybe 20 hours of TV at home in the last six years, including 9/11. The nudity and language on European TV is just ever-so-much-more-so.
I do let my son watch cable in hotels under supervision as part of the vacation. Actually, my husband and now 15-year-old son mostly prefer the history and discovery channels and paid movies. They do adore "violence" and love the war and weapons presentations on the history channel. We had to spend an entire day in the Musee du Armee in Paris savoring every helmet, sabre, etc.
Since the TV can be censored, a bigger problem in Europe is the newsstands, including the hotel gift shops. We are not prudish about about nudity, spend a lot of time appreciating (nude) art, etc but my child was horrified at the stuff on display every time he tried to find a sports magazine to read in Europe. I grew up before the Playboys were banished to the backroom of Barnes and Noble, so that was him, not me, being upset. He knows to bring his reading matter along now.