Call for better children's TV program hailed
JAKARTA (JP): An expert has hailed Minister of Information R. Hartono's statement of concern over the quality of television programming, and said that young people are watching inappropriate programs.
The Indonesian Child Welfare Foundation's director of children and television studies, B. Guntarto, said Wednesday that it was hard to control young people's television viewing.
Guntarto cited programming as part of the problem. Many television stations air programs which are targeted at adults after 3 p.m., the time when many young people and children watch television.
His foundation's May 1996 survey found that the favorite programs of 95 surveyed youths, aged between seven and 15, were Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel Goes to School), the Latin American soap opera Maria Cinta yang Hilang (Maria's Lost Love), the Chinese serial Pendekar Harum (Fragrance Warrior) and the children's show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Guntarto recommended a rating system to inform viewers about the type of programs being broadcast. His foundation runs education programs for parents to help them make informed choices on suitable viewing.
He said the foundation planned to launch in September its third edition of a parents' guide to television viewing. Previous editions had been published in 1995 and 1996, he said.
He said that television was a source of education for children despite negative public perceptions.
"Television must be balanced and entertaining as well as educational," he said.
He hailed the efforts of some stations to air programs like Anak Islam Remaja and Krucil for young people, but on the whole Guntarto found programming for this segment too formal, rigid and conventional.
Talk shows
On Wednesday, Hartono called on private television stations to restrict the broadcast of talk shows and sinetron television serials because they needed further evaluation.
Indonesia's private stations are RCTI, SCTV, TPI, Indosiar and ANteve.
Hartono said he had been concerned about the quality of these television shows since his tenure as Army chief of staff. He raised these concerns at Bina Graha before a cabinet meeting on poverty alleviation.
"When I was army chief, I used to be embarrassed by such programs. How could the television stations have allowed such broadcasts? " Hartono said.
Hartono said he had recently received a complaint from a retired police officer about the use of needles for morphine injections shown on television. "This could give others a bad example," he said.
He said that his ministry had received public complaints and objections about programs broadcast on television.
The Ministry of Information would assess problems and grievances over television shows to determine which parties could be held morally and academically accountable, he said. (01)