Are Television Shows Getting Out Of Hand?

I know this sounds a bit critical but I am wondering about television shows that are aired now. Some of them are alright however there are those that just seem to be out of hand or shouldn't even be on television. For example, your twelve year old turns on the television and a woman is getting raped and killed but this is something that comes on every night. So, you turn the channel away from your child and its a reality show where police officers are chasing some vehicle down the highway for stealing a car, still you change the channel again and its a cartoon this time but with children cursing and talking trash. What is wrong with our television stations today? Over the last couple of decades television has gotten so out of hand and its not getting any better.

What happened to television shows with morals? Or those without so much trouble and violence? Has our society gotten that bad that our children are learning crazy things from the television? Its not that people should be complaining mind you, its just that there used to be wholesome television shows for the entire family and now the shows have got to be rated; and yet not all of them are. Just to name a few Law and Order:SVU, Operation repo, cops, Bones, and the list just continues on. I look back and remember shows like Dallas, Little house on the Prairie, the Waltons, Macgyver, different shows like these. Has society gotten to the point that there's nothing but violence and reality shows on now. And, its worse if you have cable or satelite. I can remember not a decade ago seeing the Dukes of Hazard and the Andy Griffith show, even Mash these were all acceptable for children to watch. Not so much violence, cursing, or sexual offensive scenes.

I can't possibly be the only person that believes television just isn't what it used to be. And the stations can't tell me that this is the kind of television parents want to let their children watch. And what's worse is after movies have been in theaters for awhile and they move to DVD, not long after that they hit your television screen. Oh some of them are edited but where do you draw the line at editing? Isn't there a medium that television stations can come to that don't subject our children to shows that have gotten way out of hand? I think watching television as a family is wonderful, if you can actually find something other than the cooking channel to watch. I am just concerned with what its teaching the next generation.