Three different systems rate the screens in your home, and they do not talk to each other: films run G to NC-17, television runs TV-Y to TV-MA, and video games run E to AO. All three are voluntary and industry-run, each uses its own age language, and one well-known study found the film labels drifting in meaning over time.
That drift is the reason a rating is best treated as a starting point rather than a verdict. What follows is information about how each system works and who runs it, not medical, psychological, or parenting advice.
Who actually assigns these ratings?
Different bodies, with different methods. Film ratings come from the Motion Picture Association's rating system. Television ratings are applied by the networks and producers themselves. Game ratings come from the Entertainment Software Rating Board. None of the three is a government agency, and none is legally binding on families.
The television system is the most self-assigned of the three. Its own FAQ states that programs are "voluntarily rated by broadcast and cable television networks, or program producers", using the published category descriptions as guidance. A TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, made up of industry figures and public-interest advocates, is "responsible for ensuring that the ratings are applied accurately and consistently" and reviews complaints about individual programs.
That structure matters when a show your 9-year-old wants to watch is labeled TV-PG. The label reflects the producer's own read of the episode, checked after the fact rather than before.
What do the film ratings say, in their own words?
The five film categories are G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17, and the published guide describes them largely in terms of how realistic the violence is. The wording is comparative, not numerical: each step up allows more, without specifying how much more.
In the official ratings guide, G films generally do not contain violence, and where they do it is "presented in a comedic, absurd or very mild manner". PG allows mild violence such as "pushing and shoving, fist fights or brawls". PG-13 permits violence with "some realism to it" but that will "not be both realistic and pervasive or extreme". R violence is "more realistic than PG-13, usually with injury details more evident or distinct".
Read those side by side and you can see the judgment call built into the system. The difference between PG-13 and R is a matter of degree, assessed film by film.
What do the TV letters — D, L, S, V, FV — mean?
They are content descriptors attached to the age rating, and they are the more useful half of the label. D flags suggestive dialogue, L flags coarse or crude language, S flags sexual situations, and V flags violence. FV, which appears only with TV-Y7, flags fantasy violence.
The children's categories are the clearest. TV-Y means content the guidelines describe as appropriate for children of all ages. TV-Y7 is designed for children 7 and older. TV-Y7-FV signals fantasy violence that may be more intense than in other TV-Y7 programming — the distinction that often separates two cartoons sitting next to each other in the same app.
If you only have time to check one thing before a show starts, the letters tell you more than the age band does. TV-14 with a V is a different evening than TV-14 with a D. The guidelines' own FAQ is where those definitions are published, and it also explains how to file a complaint about a rating you think is wrong.
Is there still a blocking tool built into the television?
Yes. The V-chip reads the TV Parental Guidelines rating broadcast with each program and blocks the categories you select. The Federal Communications Commission describes it as technology that "allows parents or other caregivers to block programming on their TVs that they don't want children to watch."
According to the FCC's consumer guide, televisions 13 inches and larger manufactured from 2000 onward are required to include the technology, as are computer monitors of that size with TV tuners. Parents set it through the remote, blocking specific ratings and channels.
Two limits are worth knowing. The V-chip works on rated broadcast and cable programming, not on the streaming apps built into a modern set — those carry their own separate controls. And it depends entirely on the rating the producer assigned in the first place.
What does an ESRB rating on a game cover?
More than the other two systems, because a game rating comes in three parts: the age category, content descriptors, and interactive elements. The last of these covers things that are not content at all, such as in-game purchases and contact with other players.
The published ratings guide defines E as generally suitable for all ages, E10+ as "generally suitable for ages 10 and up", T as "generally suitable for ages 13 and up", M as "generally suitable for ages 17 and up", and AO as suitable only for adults 18 and up. RP means a rating is still pending. Content descriptors name what triggered the rating — violence, language, simulated gambling, and so on.
Interactive elements are the part parents most often miss. They flag in-game purchases, user interaction, location sharing, and unrestricted internet access, and by design they do not change the age category. A game rated E can still let strangers message your child.
How do the three systems compare?
| System | Who applies the rating | Categories | Extra labels |
|---|---|---|---|
| Film | The Motion Picture Association's rating system | G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17 | Short rating reasons |
| Television | Networks and program producers, reviewed by a monitoring board | TV-Y, TV-Y7, TV-Y7-FV, TV-G, TV-PG, TV-14, TV-MA | D, L, S, V, FV |
| Video games | The Entertainment Software Rating Board | E, E10+, T, M, AO, RP | Content descriptors and interactive elements |
Note what the table makes obvious: only one of the three systems routinely tells you about purchases and contact with strangers, and only one is applied by the people who made the content.
What does the research say about whether ratings hold their meaning?
One frequently cited study found that they did not, at least for films over one stretch of time. Kimberly Thompson and Fumie Yokota of the Kids Risk Project at the Harvard School of Public Health reported in July 2004 that films kept their ratings while their content grew more permissive — a pattern they called ratings creep.
As Harvard reported at the time, the researchers examined films released between January 1, 1992 and December 31, 2003 and found violence increasing in PG and PG-13 films and sexual content increasing across PG through R. Animated G-rated films contained more violence than non-animated ones.
The authors stated their own limits. Thompson noted that the 11-year window "does not represent the full timescale of all films." The team also found the published rating reasons too inconsistent to match reliably against the content they measured. This is one study of one system over one period, not a settled finding about every rating you will encounter.
What do pediatricians recommend, and what is left to you?
The American Academy of Pediatrics does not tell families which ratings to allow. Its guidance points instead to a written family media plan, and its patient-education materials include help with evaluating ratings and recognizing advertising in media.
On the AAP's media and children page, last updated June 4, 2021, families are advised to "develop a plan that takes into account the health, education and entertainment needs of each individual child as well as the whole family", then follow it together and adjust it as things change.
So the three registers stay separate. The study found ratings drifting over an 11-year period. The academy recommends a plan built around your own child rather than a fixed age cutoff. Where your family draws the line on a PG-13 film or a T-rated game is your call — and the labels, descriptors, and interactive elements are there to make that call better informed. All three systems can revise their categories and definitions, so check the current version on each body's own site.
For a related learning perspective, read Do phonics apps actually teach kids to read?.