Parents say they are getting control of their children's exposure to sex and violence in the media, and they remain concerned about inappropriate content in the media in general, according to a new national survey of parents by the Kaiser Family Foundation, MarketingCharts reports.

Some 65 percent of parents say they "closely" monitor their children's media use, while 18 percent say they "should do more."

Those numbers might explain why since 1998 the proportion of parents who say they are "very" concerned that their own children are exposed to inappropriate content - while still high - has dropped, according to Kaiser:

• Down from 67 percent to 51 percent for sexual content
• Down from 62 percent to 46 percent for violence
• Down from 59 percent to 41 percent for adult language

Parents are particularly confident in monitoring their children's online activities: Nearly three out of four parents (73 percent) say they know "a lot" about what their kids are doing online (among all parents with children 9 or older who use the Internet at home):

• 87 percent of parents whose children engage in these activities say they check their children's instant messaging (IM) "buddy lists"
• 82 percent review their children's profiles on social networking site
• 76 percent look to see what websites their kids have visited after going online.

Still, parents express significant concern about children's exposure to inappropriate media content in general:

• Two-thirds (65 percent) of parents say they are "very" concerned that children in this country are exposed to too much inappropriate content in the media
• Similar proportions (66 percent) favor government regulations to limit TV content during early evening hours.

African American and Hispanic parents are more likely than Whites to say they are "very concerned" about their children's exposure to sex, violence and adult language in the media:

• 67 percent for African Americans and 57 percent for Hispanics vs. 45 percent for Whites for sexual content
• 64 percent and 55 percent vs. 39 percent for violence
• 60 percent and 51 percent vs. 34 percent for coarse language

MarketingCharts provides a bunch more findings from the "Parents, Children & Media: A Kaiser Family Foundation Survey."