Soaps are often used as a vehicle to portray difficult situations with a clear message for viewers to learn from, e.g. Janine Butcher in “Eastenders” and her drug taking and prostitution. Her friends started leaving her and her appearance went downhill. This was designed to send a clear message to viewers who were contemplating this behaviour that it would only lead to a downward spiral.
Soaps also include real life situations which the child may be familiar with, such as domestic rows. Sometimes these scenes can be very upsetting, because their world revolves around their home and those close to it, i.e. family, friends and pets.
Real life violence such as CCTV footage and reconstructions of violent events may upset and disturb children if they are not old enough to understand it. It may also frighten them if they are viewing the television alone, without a parent to answer their questions.
However, violence on TV does not always have a negative effect on children. Watching real life TV shows such as “Grange Hill” may help them deal with violence in a positive way, should they be faced with a similar situation like that shown in the programme. For example, the child could learn better ways of reacting (rather than using violence) should they be confronted in an argument. Violence on TV also helps children learn about the real world and current affairs. Personally, I think that while children should not be exposed to violence which is unnecessary to their learning, they also should not be completely sheltered from real life events in an attempt to protect them from the outside world.
There are guidelines to make TV violence more acceptable to a young audience. The guidelines are there for two main reasons: To stop children being influenced by violence, and to censor it so that children should not have to see events that could shock or scare them. Examples of guidelines designed to stop children being influenced by violence are: “Avoid using violence as an easy way to solve a conflict”, “Avoid dangerous situations which would be easy for a child to imitate”, “Avoid details of criminal techniques such as picking locks and breaking into houses”, and “Avoid scenes in which people are locked in cellars, disused fridges, ovens, etc, or empty rooms”. Examples of guidelines designed so as not to scare children are: “Frightening scenes should be considered with great care. Do not linger on death scenes or frightening close-ups”, “Care should be taken with violent events in the home where children can relate to things such as parents and pets being hurt”, and “In news reports, attention should be given to the likely impact of the child viewing alone”. I think that generally, these guidelines are being followed in most programmes, however there is nothing to stop programme makers ignoring them in an attempt to make programmes more interesting and hence increase their audience figures.
Personally, I do not think legislation is the way forward to lessening the amount of violence shown in children’s programmes, or programmes that children are able to view. I believe this because children would not have enough knowledge of the outside world if these guidelines were to be enforced by the law. They would have no experience of dealing with situations which they may have to face in life.
I do, however, think that fines should be imposed to companies that break these guidelines regularly, or to those who broadcast a particularly offensive programme before the nine o’clock watershed. Children should not be unnecessarily frightened by programmes that are intended for their audience.
As long as it is made clear to children what is an acceptable way of behaving and what isn’t, TV violence should have no major impact on society. Should violence increase dramatically in years to come, perhaps these guidelines should be more strictly enforced, or even backed by law. For now, programme makers should follow the guidelines with the utmost concern for the audience their programme is intended for, and take great care to ensure children are not influenced by the programmes they are broadcasting.