5. What duties do parents have that children don’t?

Children can bring joy, laughter and life to a family existence, but responsible parenting involves more than laughing and playing with them. Parents have legal and physical responsibilities and duties to their children, so that the children will grow up to be productive, healthy adults who contribute to society. The minimal requirements include a safe environment, proper nutrition and some general guidance about life.

Legal Responsibilities

Parents have a responsibility and duty to make their children obey laws. In some countries, if a child breaks a law and causes damages, the parent can be legally and financially responsible for that damage. Parents are expected to make their children obey the law, which includes curfews, as well as attending school.

Safe Environment

Children have a right to live in an environment that is safe physically and mentally. Parental responsibilities include providing a safe home for their offspring. For example, the home should have proper heating, free from excessive clutter, pests and bugs, and not present any immediate dangers to the children. Immediate dangers can include lack of supervision, access to loaded weapons, and exposure to harmful chemicals such as poisons or cleaning solutions. Parental duties also extend outside of the home, which include making children wear seat belts in vehicles and supervising them during activities.

Physical Needs

Children must have nutritional food and water. In addition, parents must seek medical care for children who need it. For example, a child with diabetes whose parents refuse to seek medical supervision or provide necessary medication, are not complying with their parental rights and responsibilities. While what the children eat is up to the parents, children's food must be nutritious and in sufficient quantity to maintain their health. Clothing appropriate for the climate is also a parental responsibility.

Education

Parents have a duty to educate their children in accordance with the local and state laws where they live. Whether the children are homeschooled or if they attend public or private schools, parents must follow the laws that govern education.

6. What are the programmes that appeal to specific age groups?

Nielsen.

Age groups:

Kids 2-11

Teenagers 12-17

Adolescents 18-24

Adults 25-34

Adults 35-44

Adults 45-54

Adults 55-64

Adults 65+

Criteria for a Children’s Program

C (Children’s) and P (Pre-school) program classification.

The objectives of the programmes classification are to ensure that children have access to a variety of quality television programs made specifically for them and to provide for the protection of children from possible harmful effects of television.

All programs, whether at provisional or full C or P stage, must meet all the necessary criteria. The programme states that a children’s program is one which:

• is made specifically for children or groups of children; and

• is entertaining; and

• is well produced using sufficient resources to ensure a high standard of script, cast, direction, editing, shooting, sound and other production elements; and

• enhances a child’s understanding and experience; and

• is appropriate for Australian children.

CTS 6(a) … is made specifically for children or groups of children

Made specifically for children

The C and P classifications aim to provide programs which actually belong to children, and which children can discern to be programs made for them.

C classified programs are different from material produced for a family audience. They are not simply ‘suitable for’ or even ‘primarily designed for’ children, but designed specifically to meet children’s needs and interests.

Programs classified G under the Commercial Television Code of Practice (the code) are deemed suitable for children to watch unsupervised. While G classified programs are not necessarily intended for a child audience, they do encompass a number of ‘family’ oriented programs.

Programs classified as PG are those which are suitable for children to watch with supervision. According to the code they may contain ‘careful presentations of adult themes or concepts but must be mild in impact and remain suitable for children to watch with supervision’.

The content classification system outlined in the code performs an important but separate function to the requirements of the CTS. It provides a safety net, ensuring that programs are broadcast at an appropriate time of day and helping to ensure that children are protected from exposure to material which may be harmful to them.

A C or P classification, on the other hand, is granted only to programs which, by the nature of their content and production approach reflect that they have been designed specifically (as opposed to primarily) for the age range. They tell stories from a child’s perspective, tell them in a way appropriate to the cultural framework and age groups of the children being targeted, and tell them in an entertaining way.

‘Made specifically for them’ means conceived, developed and produced with a specific age group in mind. The issue of age specificity is one of the most problematic in children’s programming. Some indicators which may be useful for determining age specificity are as follows:

• the main actors are portrayed as within the age range or, if the main actors (characters) are outside that age range, the issues and themes need to be dealt with in a way appropriate for the age group

• the production techniques and content need to take account of the developmental stage and special vulnerabilities of the target group. For example, language of a C program should be relevant to the age group to which it is aimed. A program aimed at the lower end of the C age range should not include language which would be better understood by an older group. Language should be easily understood without being overly simplistic or poorly articulated. There is, therefore, a need to be aware of the stages of child development in order to appreciate a child’s age level of understanding and the extent to which new concepts and information can be introduced to expand a child’s awareness and knowledge.

When children are included (particularly in drama programs) they need to be the central focus, rather than incidental ‘props’ for adult characters. Child characters should be real children who behave according to their ages, rather than children who have the characteristics of adults.

The action and script should be ‘child driven’. A simple test is to ask whether there is still a story if the children are removed. If the answer is ‘yes’, then the program is unlikely to be child specific or child focused.

A program does not necessarily have to include children, but whether it includes children or not, the program needs to deal with issues and themes of interest to children and from a child’s perspective. Programs can fail because of an adult orientation, overly complex language and concepts, or tedious interviews with adult ‘experts’.

There may be some confusion about programs that children like and programs that are made specifically for them. They are not mutually exclusive, but just because children enjoy certain types of programs it does not mean that they are made specifically for them. On the other hand, a good children’s program will be made specifically for the age group and will be enjoyed by the age group.

Animation does not automatically mean that a program is made for children. Some animated programs are a mismatch; the style of animation would appeal to a young audience, but the concepts and language are geared to the older youth through to adult age range.

Whilst children enjoy programming designed for their age range, they also tend to ‘view-up’ and watch programs that are intended for older viewers, often out of curiosity about the world they will soon be entering into.

Given the overlapping age bands and the tendency for children to ‘view-up’, it is possible that any one program may be suitable for, and/or appeal to, more than one age band. However, a program designed for a 13 year old child may not be suitable for a 6 year old child, or vice versa.

CTS 6(b) … is entertaining

The aim of all C and P programs should be to entertain children. A children’s program can be drama or non-drama, designed to educate or to be just good fun. The provision of exclusively educational programs is not an aim of the C concept.

Indicators of a top quality children’s drama may include a good story, humour, unpredictability, and pace appropriate to the style of storytelling.

While non drama programs do not necessarily involve storytelling, the ingredients which are likely to contribute to top quality programs in this category are similar to those for drama: humour, unpredictability, appropriate pace and presentation in a contemporary visual style.

CTS 6(c) … is well produced using sufficient resources to ensure a high standard of script, cast, direction, editing, shooting, sound and other production elements

Although money does not necessarily equate with ‘quality’ it is accepted that without the commitment of sufficient resources the high production values required would be difficult to achieve.

The quality objective of this standard means the skilful and professional use of sufficient resources in all areas of production: from initial research of the concept, style and target audience, through the crafting and editing of the script, to the final on-screen presentation. In this regard, the question of resources is no different from that for quality family or adult programs.

CTS 6(d) … enhances a child’s understanding and experience

Enhancement of a child’s experience can be done in a highly entertaining way, such as through humour and drama. This criterion means that children should walk away from a drama program with something added to their experience or perspective, e.g. a view of friendship, family relationships, school, peer pressure, role models and emotions. Children should also leave game show and magazine format programs, with something added to their experience and understanding, e.g. a view of participation, co-operation and teamwork and interesting things from the world around them.

No topic is taboo in itself, but great care is needed in the way such topics are handled. This does not mean that the program must be uncontroversial or sanitised.

Children’s program producers should understand the emotional, intellectual, social, and other characteristics relevant to specific age groups of children and create programs that address the specific needs and interests of those children. For example, when developing programs it is useful to keep in mind that the reasoning ability of children aged 5–7 years tends to be attached to the ‘here and now’. While 7 to 11–year-olds have more developed logical abilities and a broader range of interests and knowledge, they also tend to focus on relatively concrete events and activities. Children aged 10–13 years, on the other hand, are becoming more interested in the adult world and in ideas and issues of varying degrees of sophistication and complexity.

Programs which fail this criterion offer little or nothing to the child audience. Examples of issues against this criterion can include the following:

• superficial coverage of issues of great concern to children such as the environment

• pervasive role modelling within a program which does not reflect contemporary life: e.g. females are presented as weak, dependent and unable to compete, males as strong and powerful. However, one-off or individual stereotypes may be necessary and appropriate in cases where these work to add to the storyline or theme being explored within the program and

• the gratuitous use of violence or dangerous practices. The portrayal of violence or aggression in C programs needs to be strongly justified in the context of the story and sensitively handled.