Mothers worry about TV programs' bad influence on their children
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Looking to her son Tito, 7, who was watching one of his favorite TV programs that afternoon, Wati, 33, expressed her fear that her son might change the channel to another TV program that was broadcasting a crime show at the same time.
"I don't know why but he likes every crime show on. Recently, he acted as if he was a policeman trying to arrest a criminal. He often says after watching such shows that he wants to be a police officer someday," she told The Jakarta Post.
Wati, a resident of Pasar Minggu in South Jakarta, said TV programs had changed her son's attitude. She said her son had become very aggressive, and often got into fights with friends at school and in the neighborhood.
"I felt a change in his attitude after my husband and I came back (from a trip out of) town. I think all of the time we were away, he was watching such (crime) programs," she said.
She said she now closely monitored her son's activities and always tried to persuade him not to watch crime programs.
"Several TV stations broadcast their crime shows in the afternoon, or even in the morning. I think it's crazy. The programs show how police officers chase suspects, then kick and beat them," she said.
Most of the crime shows, including Buser, Patroli, Sidik, Fakta, Bedah Kasus, are aired before 7:00 p.m..
Wati hoped that TV stations would consider the effects of such programs on children, as well as the time they are shown.
Another mother from Kebon Jeruk in West Jakarta, Ella, 37, who has a son and a daughter, voiced concerns over the airing of several uneducative sinetron (TV soap operas), infotainment and "hot" dangdut shows in the morning and evening, when her children could watch them.
"I am afraid they will adopt the lifestyle of the actresses in these programs, such as consumerism and hedonism. I'm afraid they will imitate they way they dress and adopt the attitude that treats hard work and academic achievement as unimportant,"
"All sinetron just show the importance of how to get a beautiful girlfriend or handsome boyfriend, and never about the importance of working hard to achieve something. Now, my nine- year old daughter wants a cellular phone," she told the Post.
She proposed that all such shows be shown after 10:00 p.m.
Both Wati and Ella are among the thousands -- perhaps millions -- of mothers all over the country who are becoming concerned about the negative impacts of certain TV programs on their kids.
Some of them have voiced their concerns in letters sent to newspapers. Others send their complaints to the nation's TV industry watchdog, the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI),
Since it was established last year, the KPI has received hundreds of letters from women complaining about TV programs that they considered harmful to their children. The agency recently passed 200 letters of complaint to 11 TV stations, including state-owned TVRI.
Programs exploiting sex and sensuality top the list of the complaints, followed by those that focus on violence, the supernatural, and mysticism.
Others prefer filing their complaints directly to the TV stations that air the "bad" programs. Their efforts have apparently borne some fruit, with SCTV and RCTI deciding to stop several programs in response.
KPI's chairman Victor Manayang said that no punitive measures had thus far been taken by the agency against TV stations that air "bad" programs, as the broadcasters still question the KPI's authority to punish them.
"We need support from the public as much as possible. Please file complaints with us or directly with the TV stations if you feel programs being aired by TV stations are unethical,"
"The bigger the number of complaints, the greater the pressure can be put on TV stations. And we can show them that the programs are really inappropriate, and have to be dropped accordingly," Victor told the Post.