Based on Public Agenda's broader research on families, this analysis outlines parents' concerns about sex, violence, and profanity on TV and profiles some of the important differences among various groups of parents those with young children vs. those with teens, for example. It chronicles parents' sometimes frustrating efforts to regulate their own children's viewing and suggests why many of them are not as successful in this area as they hope to be. Parents say that television is an inescapable presence in society today, even as they worry about what their children learn from it. Sponsored by State Farm Insurance and the Family Friendly Programming Forum. 10 pgs. 2003.