Archives 2002

In the News

• December 2002
• November 2002
• October 2002
• September 2002
• August 2002
• July 2002
• January - June 2002

December 2002

Variations to the Australian Content Standards

On 19 December 2002 the ABA determined variations to the Australian Content Standards for Commercial Television. The news release and variations to the Australian content standard and to the Children Television Standards is available on the ABA's website. The revised standard will come into effect on 1 January 2003.

Beware of taking young children to Harry Potter

Parents are reminded that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is not suitable for children under eight. Children of this age are developmentally unable to distinguish the difference between fantasy and reality and could find the scenes in the Harry Potter movie extremely disturbing. Young Media Australia's reviewer recommends that even some children in the eight to twelve age bracket may need strong parental guidance. For more information see the YMA review of Harry Potter and the topic Scary stuff: what scares children?.

November 2002

Marketing of 'sexy' products to children

Politicians, child development professionals and parents - people from many different perspectives are expressing concern about the marketing of items such as padded bras and G-strings to children. The launch next week of the Olsen twins' clothing products into some Australian stores has rekindled interest in the issue, prompting NSW Minister for Women Sandra Nori to speak in parliament of the trend for children to be made into "mini adults". In an article in the Daily Telegraph on 26 November 2002, "Padded bras for 8-year-olds", Dr Elspeth McInnes from the University of South Australia states "The whole notion of training younger girls to present themselves sexually and to think about their sexual presentation is very dangerous." A feature article in The Australian "Tots too soon on the road to teendom" (27 November 2002, p13 - link not available) quotes clinical psychologist Amanda Gordon. Gordon says that buying these items for little girls has completely different connotations from the fun that little girls get from "dressing up like Mum", suggesting that parents want the girls to be more grown up than they are. "When you dress girls that young as sexual beings, you start to alert immature minds to their sexuality before they're ready to deal with it." Many parents and grandparents have phoned the Young Media Australia Helpline (1800 700 357) over the last few weeks to express their concerns about this trend.

Update: " Baby Dolls" Sydney Morning Herald 30 November 2002, explores further the issue of marketing to children. Michael Carr-Gregg, adolescent psychologist, is quoted as saying "Mothers who buy their daughters g-strings should stop trying to be their best friend and act more like a parent and protect them."

ABA seeks final comment on Ozcontent

Following consideration of submissions on the proposals for changes to the Australian content standard, as set out in the July proposed amendments paper, the ABA has released Final Draft Standards along with a paper which discusses the amendments made to the original proposals. The deadline for comments is 3 December 2002. Both the ABA News Release and the paper can be viewed on the ABA web site.

Ministers reject R18+ computer games classification

November 8 2002. At their meeting in Fremantle, Commonwealth, State and Territory Censorship Ministers declined to introduce a new classification for computer games that are restricted to adults. On balance, not all Ministers were satisfied children would not access games classified as suitable only for adults - an R18+ classification. For more information, see the full Federal Attorney-General's press release.

Ministers' decision on classifications guidelines

November 6 2002. A decision is expected late Friday afternoon from the Censorship Ministers' meeting in Fremantle this week. Young Media Australia has called on the Ministers to vote against the introduction of an “R18+” classification for video games and to support the introduction of a “G8+” classification for movies. For more details see full Young Media Australia Press Release. To go to the federal Attorney General's site click here.

October 2002

Commonwealth against R classification

In response to a question in the Senate on Wednesday 16 October, Senator Amanda Vanstone said that the Commonwealth did not support the introduction of an R18+ classification for computer games. The issue has arisen in the context of the Review of the Classification Guidelines for Films and Computer Games being undertaken by the Office of Film and Literature Classification at the request of Commonwealth, State and Territory Censorship Ministers. All Censorship Ministers must agree to any changes to the guidelines. Censorship Minsters will further consider this matter at their next meeting in November. (See story below-Ministers consider proposed new classification guidelines). For more information, read the government's full statement.

Violence research not "inconclusive"

Craig Anderson of Iowa State University, preeminent researcher in the field of media violence, has recently released a document which gives answers to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about the impact of violent video games and other media violence. He has given Young Media Australia permission to reproduce the document in full. See Violent Video Games and Other Media Violence: Craig Anderson answers FAQs.

Ministers consider proposed new classification guidelines

Commonwealth, State and Territory Censorship Ministers will meet on 7-8 November in Fremantle to consider the new classification guidelines for films and computer games proposed by the OFLC after a review of public submissions earlier in the year. Young Media Australia is urging the Ministers to adopt a G8 classification to give more useful information to parents of children under the age of eight, to refuse an R classification for computer games and to take into account the strong body of research evidence relating to media violence. For the views of a preeminent researcher in the field of media violence, see the topic on YMA's website Violent Video Games and Other Media Violence: Craig Anderson answers FAQs.

New laws target fast food

The Federal Government is considering new laws to combat obesity. As part of the proposal, commercial television networks may face new restrictions on the screening of fast food and confectionery advertisements, especially to children. Federal Health Minister Kay Patterson will consult with State health ministers on a comprehensive national strategy at a special meeting on November 29. For more information, see New laws target fast food in The Sydney Morning Herald 13 October 2002.

Bob the Builder in trouble

An Adelaide father, Paul Klaric, was concerned about a game on the Bob the Builder website which involves the player hitting Spud on the head with a mallet whenever Spud put his head up out of a rubbish bin. Klaric thought the game too violent for preschool children and complained to the company. As a result of Klaric's complaint, the game has now been taken off the website. For more information read Klaric's press release.

September 2002

Debate reignited on marketing to children

The announcement that the Olsen twins brand name would be launched in Australian stores in the next few weeks has caused child development experts to criticise the trend to direct sophisticated marketing at highly-impressionable pre-teen children. Ms Jane Roberts, Vice President of Young Media Australia "We've never had such saturation levels of marketing to children ... there are consequences to that – you are wiping out a very important part of childhood." Professor Freda Briggs, emeritus professor of child development at the University of South Australia, has researched the buying patterns of pre-teens and says the Olsen marketing push is "a nightmare" and "alarming". For more information, see Underaged, overexposed in The Advertiser 26 September 2002 and Girls who grow up too fast in The Sydney Morning Herald 3 October 2002.

Cruise and Spielberg limit their kids' TV

Hollywood celebrities Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg have both said that they restrict how much TV their children watch. Cruise states "I can actually see the difference when they watch too much TV ... in terms of their reading, attention span, their behaviour." Spielberg too limits his children's exposure to TV, adding that he also keeps his children away from contemporary TV news. See Celebrity dads keep finger on TV switch in The Advertiser 28 September 2002. The subject of TV violence has this week also been addressed locally by the Director of the Centre for Mental Health for the NSW Health Department, Professor Beverley Raphael. Professor Raphael issued a warning to parents to restrict television viewing by children during the school holidays to avoid increasing exposure to violence. For more information see TV Violence - a holiday trap in the Daily Telegraph 30 September 2002.

More about childhood obesity

The editorial in the current issue of The Lancet reports on the meeting in the US of a group called Stop Commercial Exploitation of Children (SCEC). The group described the soaring increase in obesity and Type 2 diabetes among children as a public health crisis, plausibly linked to the "toxic environment" created in large part by the food industry.To see the full text of the editorial go to The Lancet website.

War on food ads hots up

An article in The Australian on Monday 23 September (Premier's obesity solution rubbish) reported that scientists from Sydney's prestigious Garvan Institute " ...have slammed Bob Carr's campaign against childhood obesity as misrepresenting a genetic problem and offering a solution that is 'scientific rubbish'. The scientists, experts in diabetes and obesity,say the debate is dominated by 'thought police' ignoring evidence that fat children result from genes, not just lifestyle." The next day in Letters to the Editor, Professor Tony McMichael, Director of the Australian National University's National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, described the remarks attributed to the scientists as 'extraordinary'. He asserts "Genes may be involved in some individuals, but they simply cannot explain a population-level increase in obesity prevalence." In another letter, Dr Rosemary Stanton, Consultant Nutritionist and well known media personality, states "No one doubts genes play a role in obesity but there's no way they are responsible for the recent huge increase in childhood obesity, as claimed by the Garvan scientists in your newspaper."

Submissions to ABA for review of Australian content

The ABA has received fourteen submissions on the proposed amendments to Australian content standard. The submissions are available on the ABA website. The ABA will consider all submissions prior to finalising the standard. If you have any further comments to make arising from the submissions, they should be provided to the ABA by Monday 23 September 2002. It is planned to implement the amended Australian content standard in January 2003.

Study links amount of TV watched with aggressive behaviour

Children who spend more time watching TV - regardless of the content of the programming - are more likely to behave aggressively and have other types of social problems, a study reported in the September issue of the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine has found. "Prolonged television watching may be considered to be one of the new symptoms of this era of technology, and it deserves more attention and evaluation in every aspect," write study author Dr. Elif Ozmert of Hacettep University in Ankara, Turkey and colleagues. "Families should be advised to restrict the television viewing hours of their children and to encourage them to participate in active peer relationships," they add.

Media coverage of Sep 11 Anniversary: Call for restraint

10 September 2002
Young Media Australia has called for restraint by the media in their coverage of the anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York. Of particular concern are the graphic images being shown in program promos at times when large numbers of children are likely to be watching. The screening of such footage could be in breach of the television stations' code of conduct in this area. For many young children, only a few seconds of exposure can be enough to terrify. Parents wanting help in dealing with the impact of Sep 11 coverage on their children, are encouraged to phone the national freecall Young Media Australia Helpline on 1800 700 357 (24hr 7days).

For more details see full Young Media Australia Press Release.

NSW Childhood Obesity Summit

10 September 2002
The NSW Childhood Obesity Summit is being held on September 10, 11 & 12 at NSW Parliament House. The Summit will bring together health experts, parliamentary representatives, industry, parents, teachers and children to develop practical solutions to the problem of childhood obesity. Issues to be discussed include food sales and advertising, exercise, community and school programs and education campaigns. For more information see the NSW Department of Health Obesity Summit resolutions.

August 2002

Murder coverage disturbs children

22 August 2002
A hotline set up by the Cambridgeshire Council, near London, has been inundated by calls from parents and children who are distressed by the murders of 10 year old schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman. As reported in The Australian 21 August 2002.

Australian parents and caregivers are reminded that the national freecall Young Media Australia Helpline (1800 700 357) is available to assist 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If your child seems overly anxious in response to the story from Britain or to any media experience, the Helpline operators will be able to help.

Report on NSW Inquiry into Infomercials

22 August 2002
The NSW Fair Trading Advisory Council has released its report on its Inquiry into Infomercials. The Inquiry was launched in response to a significant number of complaints from consumers concerning Infomercials and has recommended a self-regulation shceme with a Code of Practice, and a statutory 'cooling off' period to provide protection against impulse purchases. Public comment on the report is invited, with a deadline for submissions of 20 September 2002.

For more information about the Inquiry, contact Travis Ahearn on (02) 9338 8960 or by email: tahearn@fairtrading.nsw.gov.au.

International Children's Day of Broadcasting (ICDB)

27 August 2002
The International Children's Day of Broadcasting will be held on Sunday 8 December 2002. This event has been celebrated every day since 1992 and is initiated and coordinated by UNICEF and partners. For one day, children around the globe will have the opportunity to show their skills in producing, reporting, filming and recording. For more information see UINICEF's ICDB website.

Ministers urged to adopt new G8 rating

7 August 2002
Young Media Australia has urged the State and Territory Ministers responsible for censorship to adopt a new G8 classification category for films and videos.

The call for such a classification was supported in a review of public submissions relating to classification, prepared by independent consultant, Dr Jeffrey Brand, and presented to the meeting of Ministers in March. Ministers met to consider new draft guidelines for classification on July 26, and will meet again in November.

As reported in The Sun Herald 4 August 2002.

YMA lodges complaint about Scooby Doo

1 August 2002
In response to the many calls that the Young Media Australia Helpline received from parents who regretted taking their young children to see Scooby Doo, Young Media Australia has lodged a complaint with the Office of Film and Literature Classification about the film's rating. The film was rated "G" with a consumer advice line of "Some scenes may scare very young children". However, many parents, who were unaware of the consumer advice line, (often not printed in press advertisements) had taken their young children to the film, only to find that the images portrayed in the film were terrifying for their children.

Archbishop mourns consumerism in childhood

1 August 2002
The newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury , Dr Rowan Williams has written a book in which he describes how sexually, socially and economically, we are failing to look after our children. In the field of the media, he singles out for criticism the "tie-ins" of comics, sweets and toys with films or television series and certain computer games which influence children in the direction of peer-group fashion. To read more, go to the Times Online website.

July 2002

Ministers agree to further steps towards streamlined Classification Guidelines

29 July 2002
Commonwealth, State and Territory Censorship Ministers meeting in Cairns last week, have taken further steps towards streamlining and simplifying the Guidelines for the Classification of Films and Videotapes and the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games.

Ministers agreed to refer the draft combined guidelines to a language expert. The use of a language expert is an agreed part of the review process and assists in creating clear and understandable guidelines.

Pressure grows to curb junk food ads on kids' TV

28 July 2002
Health experts and consumer groups have joined forces to cap junk food advertising during children's peak television viewing times.

Twelve national health and consumer organisations banded together last week to form the Coalition on Food Advertising to Children (CFAC) in a bid to curb rising childhood obesity levels in Australia. As reported in the The Sun Herald 28 July 2002.

Also reported in the News section of the Flinders University website.

Full details about the launch of CFAC are in the July edition of small screen. small screen is Young Media Australia's monthly news digest (11 issues per year). Click here for information about how to subscribe.

Positive effects of TV and videos

25 July 2002
A study at the School of Behavioural Science at La Trobe University has found that children aged three to six were active participants when they watched certain TV shows and videos. They interacted with shows by singing, dancing, solving problems and mimicking characters. The shows that encouraged involvement were Hi-5, Play School and Blue's Clues and the videos were The Wiggles, Hi-5 and Shrek. As reported in The Sydney Morning Herald today.

Atkinson speaks out on classifications review

19 July 2002
On the eve of the two day meeting of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, the South Australian Attorney-General, the Hon. Michael Atkinson spoke out about the need for research literature to be considered in the present OFLC review of film and computer game classifications. "I am concerned to ensure that the review fully and properly takes into account research literature about the nature and causes of harm to children from the violent material to be classified" Mr Atkinson said.

The meeting, which considered this and many other issues, was held on 25 and 26 July in Cairns. As reported in the Australian Financial Review 19 July 2002.

Changes to Australian content

11 July 2002
The Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) has released draft amendments to the Australian Content Standard for commercial television. Professor David Flint, Chairman of the ABA said, "The ABA has proposed a number of measures to improve the operation of the standard including changes to the sub-quotas for adult drama, C drama and documentary programs. These programs required particular support in the standard because of their high cost relative to other program types."

See the full ABA news release 11 July 2002 for more details.

Are ads really louder?

10 July 2002
On 10 July 2002, Professor David Flint, Chairman of the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) announced that a code should be developed by the Commercial Television Industry Codes of Practice in consultation with the ABA, to address the concerns of the viewing public that advertisements appear to be louder than the adjacent programming.

The ABA has just completed an investigation which confirmed concern amongst viewers regarding the loudness of advertisements and found that techniques such as ‘compression’, ‘equalisation’ and ‘limiting’ could be used to make ads sound louder.

See the full ABA news release 10 July 2002 for more details.

YMA Helpline launch

2 July 2002
Full details of the Helpline launch including pictures, press release and transcript of speeches.

January - June 2002

Adolescent body image suffers from media images of the impossibly thin
Flinders Journal, v.2(3) Mar/Apr 2002 p.1

Media literacy staves off eating disorders
Small Screen, no.174 April 2002, p.1

A study finds more links between tv and violence

Teenagers and young adults who watched more than 1 hour of television daily were more likely to commit violent crimes and engage in other forms of aggressive behavior later, according to a new report. [led by Dr. Jeffrey G. Johnson of Columbia University]
The New York Times on the Web, 29th March, 2002

ET - new consumer advice

The OFLC Review Board has decided to confirm the PG classification of ET but to vary the consumer advice to "Some scenes may disturb young children", replacing previous advice of "coarse language, supernatural themes".

Consultant's report - ASSESSMENT OF PUBLIC SUBMISSION TO THE OFLC REVIEW OF CLASSIFICATION GUIDELINES (Brand Report)

Watch your bottom line, Hollywood

By Robert A. Sirico. Story about the extensive study of movie profitability which shows that movies without graphic violence and sex make the most money.

Coverages in context: how thoroughly the news media reports five key children's issues

Quick-hit stories of crime and violence, reported with little context, dominated news reports about children,according to a study released 19 February 2002 by the Casey Journalism Center on Children and Families.

YMA Media Activities

TV advertising and body image of adolescent girls
ABC TV, Stateline, Adelaide, 14 June 2002, 7.30pm

Virtual Violence
The Bulletin, 22 May 2002

Call home ET, the censors want a chat
Daily Telegraph, 7 March 2002, p.27

Warning on violent kids' video games
The Sunday Mail (SA), 9 December 2001

Row brewing over games rating
Australian Financial Review, 31 October 2001

'R' ratings for games
The Advertiser (SA), 6 August 2001, p.1,6

Media violence - pushing the ratings
Radio National Background Briefing program, 22 July 2001

TV critics missing the target
The Courier Mail (Qld), 7 June 2001, p.22

Selling the rights to children's minds
Jane Roberts' (Vice President of Young Media Australia) article is available for perusal in the YMA publication small screen or Sydney Morning Herald, 22 November 2000