I got an email the other day from a colleague with the simple intro:
“Hi Folks, We do need to stand up for our kids….”
With it he attached a link to an article on the Australian Christian Lobby website (see below), that urged the Australian Communications and Media Authority to reject proposed changes to free-to-air television which include abolishing G timeslots, abolishing the AV rating and bringing forward M and MA timeslots.
I recalled reading about this a few days prior and was left wondering if I should do something about it. It’s not just fighting my laziness; it’s a genuine ‘so what will this mean question?’ I wonder with all the changes to the way we consume TV, be it online, or out of programming time slots with catch up TV etc, does it make sense for Free to Air TV to maintain old ratings slots? What do you think?
I like the fact you can turn the box on and still know, unlike the internet or YouTube for example, that your kid can watch a program without being exposed to inappropriate advertising and content.
Besides, I would have thought that keeping the ratings zones would actually be beneficial to retaining audience; a bit like ‘brand definition’ as opposed to following the rest of the crowd online.
This is the ACL’s summary of the proposed changes:
M-rated
currently: 8.30pm, proposed: 7.30pm
MA-rated
currently: 9pm, proposed: 8.30pm
PG-rating
all day, all channels – removal of G-rated programming slabs
AV-rating
Removed, reclassified to M and MA.
Some people might not like a Christian political lobby group trying to ‘meddle’ with the State. But throughout history it has often been Christians who have patiently worked for the bettering of the societies they live in. Ok there have been others too, but a lot of what we take for granted like hospitals, schools, the abolition of slavery just to mention a few, have been achieved through the labours of love from christians down the centuries.
So let’s give this some consideration, because what this means is that your kid could be watching Masterchef and during the ad break they’ll be exposed to alcohol advertising or other inappropriate content. It means that you will have a lot of trouble keeping younger kids off PG programs, so they’ll just have to grow up quicker. If you think that there’s already too much sexualisation and exposure to violence in our society, then it’s only going to increase with these new ratings. There’ll be no guaranteed ‘kid safe zones’ on Free to Air TV.
I guess this makes me worry. I know as a parent you can’t police every moment of every program. So what will you do? Perhaps we’ll just turn it off. Not a bad thing. Or we could ask the Australian Communications and Media Authority to reconsider.
You can do so by sending responses to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
But hurry you’ve only got till the 3rd of April 2015:
