Call for better children's TV program hailed
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)