small screen News Digest of Australian Council on Children and the Media (incorporating Young Media Australia) ISSN: 0817-8224 No. 275 May 2011 Psychiatrists express concern about child beauty pageants Know Before You Go - as close as your It’s tax time & there is still phone! time to make a tax deductible In a statement issued on 27 May, the Royal Australian and New Zealand A grateful mother has sent us the following donation to College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Child letter about our movie review service: and Adolescent Psychiatry expressed alarm Australian Council on I am writing to let you know how useful your at the proposal to hold a competitive child ‘Know Before You Go’ movie review service Children & the Media beauty pageant in Melbourne, involving was on the weekend. I was at the video store children from the age of one month old. To support us in our campaign for with my 9 year old son, who was pestering me to watch a movie that I wasn’t sure was healthy use of the media go to “While the owner of the pageant emphasises appropriate for him, so instead of my usual ‘a positive fun-filled atmosphere’, this is a guessing game involving ratings and reading superficial and naive statement. She has said www.childrenandmedia.org.au the cover of the DVD, I used my mobile phone that it encourages ‘positive self confidence… to go directly to the movie review of the film on striving to be your very best’. However the ac- the ACCM website, which simply stated that companying photograph of.. (a).. five year old Violence not the attraction for children. this movie was not suitable for U13’s because beauty star .....exposes both inherent exploita- it had high levels of violence. My son accepted A recent US study concludes that violence tion and the representational sexualisation of this information, especially when he could see doesn’t add anything to children’s children,” said Dr Phillip Brock, Chair of it on my phone, realising that it wasn’t just enjoyment of animated programs and their The Royal Australian and New Zealand me being ‘too strict’. characters. College of Psychiatrists’ Faculty of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. We then used the ACCM website to choose a The researchers from Indiana University suitable movie for my son and left the store used a sample group of 128 school children, Dr Brock stated that the Faculty relaxed and happy. I was extremely grateful ranging in age from five to 11 and from for this resource at this time, because it took “would like to emphasise the potential devel- kindergarten to the fourth grade. There the ‘pressure off’ choosing a video, both for me opmental harm that can be associated with the were a nearly equal number of boys and and my son, and the movie we chose was en- sexualisation of children and tweens. Sexuali- girls. joyed by the whole family. sation is a process whereby a child’s value is Each child was shown one of four versions based on their appearance or behavior to the Reviews of over 600 movies are available of a five-minute animated short film exclusion of other characteristics, and the at- on the ACCM website at tractiveness as a child is equated with being created for the study and then led through sexy,” http://www.youngmedia.org.au/media- a questionnaire. The short was designed children/07_04_choose_films.htm to resemble familiar slapstick cartoons. “There are many healthy contexts for dressing Four different versions of the cartoon up, parading, role rehearsal and participation STOP PRESS were used. Six violent scenes were added in school performances etc where children can to one version, which was carried out by act out their development in an age appropri- Release of the Bailey report both characters and in response to earlier ate manner.” aggression. Nine action scenes were added The report of an in independent review into the to another version. Two other versions had “Direct participation and competition for a commercialisation and sexualisation of childhood lower amounts of action or violence. beauty prize convey messages relating to the has been released in the UK. The report, Letting desirable self, social and personal values, and Children be Children, was commissioned by the Violence had no direct effect on the liking of shape emotional and psychological develop- Department of Education. the cartoon, but did decrease boys’ wishful ment. Infants and girls are objectified and identification with the anthropomorphized judged against sexualised ideals. The mental Reg Bailey and his team listened to parents’ characters. Non-violent action increased health and developmental consequences of concerns about the barriers they face in bringing liking for males but not for females. this are significant and impact on identity, up their children and his recommendations self esteem, and body perception,” include measures to make it easier for parents Weaver, A et al (2011) Liking Violence to protect their children from sexualised and and Action: An Examination of Gender The full statement can be read on the commercialised material. Differences in Children’s Processing of RANZCP website at Animated Content. Media Psychology, Vol The report is available at 14, Issue 1, Pp 49 - 70 http://www.ranzcp.org/index2. php?option=com_content&do_ https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/ http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_ pdf=1&id=690 eOrderingDownload/Bailey%20Review.pdf releases/2011-05/iu-nsf052311.php RANZCP CONCERN ABOUT CHILD EDITORIAL: R18+ FOR GAMES WOTWOTS: AN E-BOOK WINNER BEAUTY PAGEANTS KNOW BEFORE YOU GO BENEFITS FROM ACTIVE VIOLENCE NOT THE ATTRACTION - AS CLOSE AS YOUR PHONE COMPUTER GAMES small screen May 2011 p2 EDITORIAL R18+for games?: proposals and counter We find that : proposals. • the insertion in nearly all no. 275 May 2011 On 20th April, the ACCM wrote to all Federal, classification categories, and small screen State and Territory Ministers responsible for assessable elements, of the Editor: Barbara Biggins OAM censorship, setting out our proposals for a child- phrase ”must not be related to Compiler: Caroline Donald friendly system for classifying computer games. incentives or rewards” is not Barbara Biggins OAM Editorial Board: Barbara Biggins, We argued for the separation of the classification new, nor are apparently new Jane Roberts, Judy Bundy, Hon CEO systems for films and games, and for establishing statements about interactivity. Elizabeth Handsley. just four classification categories: G, PG, MA15+ These are all there now in the small screen is published at the and R18+. This new MA15+ category would allow opening section “Assessing impact” of the beginning of each month and only moderate impact material (as for former M present guidelines. reports on the events of the category) and the new R18+ category would allow • the new statements about drug use “not previous month 11 issues per only “strong impact” content (as for previous being detailed and realistic” are puzzling in year (Dec/Jan double issue) that we were not aware that drug use was a Published by MA15+). This would have the effect of moving, for example, very violent content into higher, legally big problem with games, whereas violence Australian Council on clearly is, and there are few changes that will Children and the Media enforceable, categories. The current M category contains material that is not recommended under help that problem. (ACCM) • the new sentence under violence at MA15+ PO Box 447 15 years, but is often ignored. contains the phrase “strong and realistic Glenelg 5045 South Australia Moving MA15+ content into a new R18+ category violence should not be very frequent”. So [email protected] would satisfy many of those who support there could still be strong and realistic www.youngmedia.org.au having an R18+ category for games because they violence that was frequent. How are classifiers Tel: +61 8 8376 2111 mistakenly believe that the very violent games in to distinguish between frequent and very Fax: +61 8 8376 2122 MA15+ will be pushed up into it (thus making it frequent?? The present criteria already provide Helpline: 1800 700 357 harder for children to access). This had not been for a judgement of higher impact if “a scene is ACCM is a national, non-profit the intention of the proposals for introducing an repeated frequently”. How does the change community organisation. R18+ category: that was rather to allow even more ensure that problematic violence is no longer Its mission is to promote a extreme material. permitted at MA15+? quality media environment for • the new R18+ for games is virtually identical Australian children. The ACCM has had responses from 5 of the 9 to that for films, except for the addition of a Attorneys General, with none so far expressing No part of this publication statement that actually already categorises may be reproduced without support for our suggestions. Two (ACT and what goes in to RC.(Refused Classification). permission of the Editor. WA) said that the main purpose of having a So for anyone hoping for greater protection for Contributions are welcome. new R18+ category was that gamers could have “higher impact games”. That’s precisely what children - this won’t do it. we understood in the beginning, but we were outraged when the message used throughout the By contrast, the SA AG, is proposing a system that past year’s campaign was not that, but instead offers the promise of better protection for children, ACCM’s services are emphasised “this will protect children better’. while still accommodating gamers’ intense desire supported by a grant And many of the public bought that message. to be able to play more extreme games.