Watching with Mother

I am greatly concerned by the findings of a questionnaire to mothers about children’s viewing habits, carried out for TV Times. I am not as surprised as European Union Surveys are by what they call the “incredible amount” watched – 90 per cent of the nation’s children viewing every day. What does worry me is the negligence revealed on the part of parents.

Eight out of 10 children are “usually or sometimes” allowed to watch right up to “their bedtime”, a third of five to eight-year-olds and two-thirds of nine to 11-year-olds are allowed to stay up after their normal bedtime at weekends to watch TV.

There is a notional “watershed” at 9 pm, fixed by the BBC and IBA, after which more violent and intimate scenes can be shown and adult themes explored. But the survey reveals that 24 per cent of even five to eight-year-olds are sometimes allowed to view after nine o’clock, and half of the nation’s nine to 11-year-olds may actually be watching them. As mothers could be expected to play down their estimates, “the real figures would be even higher,” adds the author of the survey’s summary.

Only 62 out of the 524 mothers interviewed said they allowed their children under 10 to watch anything they liked. But implicit in the figures is that adult taste rather than concern for the child’s mind is the main factor governing a decision to switch off (27 per cent) or switch over (57 per cent) when parents considered a programme unsuitable.

Yet 74 per cent agreed or partly agreed that there was too much violence on TV. Interestingly, only eight per cent thought sex on television was more harmful.

What emerges most clearly from the mass of figures is that parents exercise little or no control over their children’s viewing, even when it worries them. They throw the onus on to the programme-makers, which is both cowardly and irresponsible. The people who make and schedule programmes should not be the ones who have to worry about little children being upset.

Much as I am against any form of censorship, this survey convinces me that there should be some sort of indication given to parents as to the suitability of programmes. While children cannot be prohibited from viewing at home by anyone except their parents, as they can be by an “X” certificate in the cinema, there is a precedent for guidance in another way. Adult American movies now carry an “R” for Restriction Recommended. Adopting an “R”, to be clearly attached to tricky titles in programme journals and in on-air trailers, would be of immense assistance to responsible parents, and would encourage those who are less keen to take their job of guiding the young seriously.

Personally, I would like to put an “R” on all those nasty, smutty “comedy” shows like Benny Hill, Pig in the Middle, and George and Mildred, but I realize that I might be letting my own prejudices carry me away, and this is always the danger with people who set themselves up as censors.