Are soap operas healthy viewing for kids?

Deliverance

I'd like to open this as a discussion to see what parents think about this. I often wonder how much impact soaps have on kids that are watching these dramatic representations of life on the tv.

I appreciate the fact that soap operas are adult drama and as such generate lots of interest due to the episodic nature which is addictive, but I also wonder what efffect this has on my / other kids sitting with their parents watching the extremes of life that the soaps portray.

The reason I ask this is because I sometimes feel very uncomfortable during episodes that seem to be becoming more and more dramatic and contraversial i.e. rape, infidelity, baby father doubt, violence and the rest.

On that point I think that soaps are unhealthy viewing for kids as kids tend to believe everything that they hear and see.

I suppose the bottom line is that: In my opinion Soap Operas should be pg rated at the beginning for a start depending on content?

Any opinions on this?

Moonbeam

I don't think that they should be.
Parents should be monitoring their young kids tv and make a decision based on that.

People can make their own decisions we do not need everything classified for us.

Fromthetrees

Just my opinion, I would never judge.
I think soap operas are evil and sick and represent the lowest common denominator in television viewing. They'd be fighting it out with Jeremy Kyle and Jerry Springer for the accolade of why you should throw away your television.
I often think if hell was real it wouldn't be too dissimilar to eastenders, I would rather lie face down in mud reciting the alphabet over and over during a thunder storm for the duration of a soap opera than actually have to watch a full one.
Again, just my opinion, I would never judge.

lynski

No.
They are adult programmes or at best young adult. I think home and away is suitable from about 13/14 and depending on the child corrie etc after 16 IMHO

Deliverance

I suppose in some ways it is acceptable viewing for adults as it is. But is it acceptable viewing for children whom might be unwilling participants?

Think about it: it is drama for an adult, but to a kid it is a view on life. Kid watches this stuff happening and sees it as real life and parents are watching it. It doesn't take a genious or an in depth study to see the effects.

January

Wouldn't let my daughters watch soaps... I put them on record and watch them after they've been put to bed. They're real life scenario's but they are seriously dramatized and they don't need to see stuff like that at that age... we either have music on or Peppa/Dora/Something Special on for a while during the day.

Lola92

Not a hope in hell would I let my child watch soaps. I don't watch them myself but that is my own personal choice (IMO seen one season, seen them all!). On occasion my OH Mam will drop in and and ask if she can watch corrie or eastenders if she won't be home and on each and every occasion I despair!

Violence, murder, rape, affairs, scandals, abuse, death, drugs are common themes and issues in these programmes..and the list goes on! I don't know how this could be considered suitable viewing for children.

CrazyRabbit

In my honest opinion, soaps aren't even suitable for adults. Horrendous concept. Tragedy after tragedy, murders, plots, hatred, misery & betrayals. They give a distorted view of what is 'normal'.

I've no problem with any of things in TV/movies etc...except in shows that are designed to depict 'real life'.

IvyTheTerrible

I think they are not really suitable viewing for kids. (but I think it is up to parents to control what their kids are watching). They have scenarios that are a bit "too much".

My mum always let us watch soaps. Now most of the time, these were grand. But I do remember in particular an episode of Coronation St when I couldn't have been more than 9 years old, and Gails ex husband was stabbed to death. I had nightmares for a long time after that.

I don't think it is just soaps that need to be controlled viewing for young kids though, there are things on the news that they shouldn't see either.

cynder

I was always allowed to watch soaps, oh how i hated the tunes of emmerdale, coronations st and eastenders, i did like neighbours, i left the uk just before my 8th birthday and i watched this episode in the uk so i must of been 6 or 7, Kylie and Jason donovan were talking about having sex, and my dad asked if we knew what they were on about and we said yes, so from that day forth neighbours was banned. I was never really a biker grove or grange hill fan either

A few years later in ireland home and away came to our screens and i loved it, in fact most at school loved it too.

None of my kids have any interest in soaps ive mentioned, in fact they have the same 'oh no' expression i had. My husband is a soap addict, im neither here nor there.

We have to mind our little guy (5) when soaps come on as his sensitive to adults shouting at each other.

At the end of the day its up to parents what they let their kids watch. Only a few bits need censoring, 'the cover your eyes or ears moments'.

Big Bag of Chips

Soaps are "dramas"... not real life! They are overly dramatic to ensure ratings. I don't think anyone (adult) actually believes they are supposed to depict "real-life"!

My kids are too young for soaps at the moment, eldest is only 6.. but sometimes one may be on in the background at bedtime. If things start getting loud, or violent, or angry etc I switch it off, because it scares them and they ask loads of questions.

We tell them over and over that programs and films aren't real life, and I'm part of a drama group, so they get that sometimes I 'pretend" to be someone else, or I pretend I'm married to someone else etc.

But at the moment, mine are much too young for soaps to even be an option. They're usually on their way to bed at that time anyway!

In a few years I'll have to revisit!

KittyeeTrix

I don't censor what my children watch at all but they've no interest in watching the soaps probably because I don't watch them myself .

I take on board what studies have shown but then I look to my own children and how they've developed and have come to the conclusion that they are no different to any of their friends.

My youngest who is 10 in March watches whatever is on if he chooses but 9 times out of 10 he will head upstairs to my room where his Lego is based and watch cartoons in there whilst playing.

It's like everything I suppose in life, in that the statistics don't account for everyone:)

qwertytlk

I was listening to a discussion on the radio on this topic a few weeks ago. A woman studyind child psychology came on and said that she was doong her thesis on this subject and from her investigations had found that soaps were not suitable for children as they portray an image of normal life that is totally distorted. So she basically went on to say that children who watch soaps would then have a distorted view of what their lives are suppossed to be like, that they would kind of be expecting life to be one big drama after another with never a seconds peace, like the lives of the soap charachters . Obviously this isnt what life is like and so its not good for a child to think it is.
Personally once my child gets to an age where he undestands conversation and wold begin to show interest in tv, i will be waiting untill he goes to bed before i watch them.

bbam

I don't think they're healthy watching for anyone, child or adult !!
Herself used to watch some of the soaps but stopped when the kids came along, not wanting the girls to be exposed to the content nor having the time to watch them..... Now she openly admits that they were just an awful waste of time.

For adults there is much better TV out there..

nesf

qwertytlk wrote: »

I was listening to a discussion on the radio on this topic a few weeks ago. A woman studyind child psychology came on and said that she was doong her thesis on this subject and from her investigations had found that soaps were not suitable for children as they portray an image of normal life that is totally distorted. So she basically went on to say that children who watch soaps would then have a distorted view of what their lives are suppossed to be like, that they would kind of be expecting life to be one big drama after another with never a seconds peace, like the lives of the soap charachters . Obviously this isnt what life is like and so its not good for a child to think it is.
Personally once my child gets to an age where he undestands conversation and wold begin to show interest in tv, i will be waiting untill he goes to bed before i watch them.

I'd be extremely slow to base any decision on such a radio show. You've someone talking about their thesis research not a consensus coming from multiple studies. No one should take one (or a few) studies as meaning anything, they can very easily be statistical noise. Also if her thesis research wasn't backed up by empirical evidence and peer reviewed it's worth less than nothing.

ash23

I don't watch soaps and on the couple of occasions that my daughter has seen them (she's 9) she has been terrified and/or replulsed.

She will actually leave the room or ask to leave if we happen to be somewhere and a soap comes on. She is particularly frightened of Eastenders.

She does watch other things that I find more "grown up" though but I watch with her but only one or two. Such as Teen Mom. She loves that program.

But no, personally I don't think that soaps are appropriate viewing for children.

vicwatson

We don't view them anymore, we made the judgement call that the themes in them were of a grown up, adult nature.

They deal with real issues yes, but there is a time and a place for children to see them and that IMO is when they are grown up enough for that.

I for one don't want my children to learn about murder, abortion, divorce, alcohol/drug abuse etc etc etc on a soap tv programme, I'd prefer if they learned the full and open facts from their parents when time is right.

Each to their own mind.

qwertytlk

nesf wrote: »

I'd be extremely slow to base any decision on such a radio show. You've someone talking about their thesis research not a consensus coming from multiple studies. No one should take one (or a few) studies as meaning anything, they can very easily be statistical noise. Also if her thesis research wasn't backed up by empirical evidence and peer reviewed it's worth less than nothing.

while i agree with you and see where your coming from, when i listened to what this girl was saying i felt it made perfect sense so i more basing my decision on that rather than anything else. It doesnt matter to me if she has evidence to back up her claims, i just happend to agree with what she was saying and in fairness i can see how soaps would be unhealthy to children. I mean the charachters are just bouncing from one disaster to another-this is not an acurate portrayal of what real life is. I also think many of the storylines (rape, incest, murder, constant affairs and backstabbing etc) are unsuitable for young children. If my son decides he wants to watch them when he is older-at least over 15, then this is fine but not before that.

nesf

qwertytlk wrote: »

while i agree with you and see where your coming from, when i listened to what this girl was saying i felt it made perfect sense so i more basing my decision on that rather than anything else. It doesnt matter to me if she has evidence to back up her claims, i just happend to agree with what she was saying and in fairness i can see how soaps would be unhealthy to children. I mean the charachters are just bouncing from one disaster to another-this is not an acurate portrayal of what real life is. I also think many of the storylines (rape, incest, murder, constant affairs and backstabbing etc) are unsuitable for young children. If my son decides he wants to watch them when he is older-at least over 15, then this is fine but not before that.

Sure but all that works on the assumption that children can't tell it's not real life, something I'm really not convinced of and haven't seen evidence to prove. No argument on some of the story lines in some of the soaps not being suitable for young children.

implausible

You know guys, this thread has really got me thinking and so I am bidding EastEnders adieu. There is far too much yelling in it and my wee man now recognises the theme tune, which has got me a bit worried. I can always watch it on rte+1 or bbc3 at 10. There will be enough bad influences to worry and teach him about in future without plonking him in front of EE.

Thanks!

Deliverance

Thanks for the feedback, I'm not doing a study on this by the way;) It is just something that I noticed as a parent of a 6yr old. When things get loud, dramatic, angry and violent in some scenes my kids attention was drawn to the screen and she was sucking her thumb, I started pausing the show and even turned it off at times. Eventually I found it better to not have these shows on when she was in the room.

Besides this I started equating the amount of hours spent watching soaps and it comes to the equivelant of almost a whole day worth of working hours! I'm going to stop having them on now at my place due to these personal findings.

The consensus from this thread so far is that soaps are not acceptable, healthy viewing for kids as captive viewers, pretty obvious really but good to see how other parents are thinking about this issue as well.

I think that drinking on soaps is becoming an issue as well as the fictional characters social lives seem to revolve around the pub, beer from the fridge and spirits when things get particularly tough. Interstingly as a point I noticed that the workers seem to drink lager whilst the 'upper class' (employers) drink spirits and tend treat the workers like sh*t. Something that the workers seem to be happy to accept as they are desperate for work.

The bottom line to me is that soaps are unhealthy viewing overall, not just for kids but for adults as well. When you think about it these shows are piped into our homes on a daily basis and over time can and will have influence on development from childhood to adulthood.

Interesting to see more views on this as the discussion continues?

Daisy M

Deliverance wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback, I'm not doing a study on this by the way;) It is just something that I noticed as a parent of a 6yr old. When things get loud, dramatic, angry and violent in some scenes my kids attention was drawn to the screen and she was sucking her thumb, I started pausing the show and even turned it off at times. Eventually I found it better to not have these shows on when she was in the room.

Besides this I started equating the amount of hours spent watching soaps and it comes to the equivelant of almost a whole day worth of working hours! I'm going to stop having them on now at my place due to these personal findings.

The consensus from this thread so far is that soaps are not acceptable, healthy viewing for kids as captive viewers, pretty obvious really but good to see how other parents are thinking about this issue as well.

I think that drinking on soaps is becoming an issue as well as the fictional characters social lives seem to revolve around the pub, beer from the fridge and spirits when things get particularly tough. Interstingly as a point I noticed that the workers seem to drink lager whilst the 'upper class' (employers) drink spirits and tend treat the workers like sh*t. Something that the workers seem to be happy to accept as they are desperate for work.

The bottom line to me is that soaps are unhealthy viewing overall, not just for kids but for adults as well.

I think implying that soaps are unhealthy for adults is a tad over the top.
I doubt your typical adult could be influenced by caracters on soaps to go out and behave as they do. For most adults who do watch them they are some light entertainment that doesnt take any brain power to understand and can be watched while doing 101 other things. I like watching a wide variety of programmes but prefer reading. That doesnt make me any better or worse than self confessed soap addicts I am who I am as are they.

Equating watching soaps to a days working is pointless unless it is stopping you from going to work. You are no better off watching a documentary than a soap if it is inteferring with your life and stopping you preforming necessary tasks.

cynder

My fella us a soap addict, he doesn't smoke doesn't drink alcohol that often rarely gets drunk, doesn't do drugs, doesn't beat me or the kids, and tbh I couldn't give a rat's was he likes watching soaps. Doesn't change who he is, doesnt influence him any way, after spending 8 hours a day writing code it's something easy on the brain to watch. He never misses a soap and records something if he has to work late.

ash23

Personally I think soaps are on too early and I would prefer to see them on later in the night because I feel that over the years the topics and drama in them has become more and more adult and really isn't suitable for family viewing.

But that's just me and I'd never watch them anyway. And thankfully my daughter seems to show the same dislike for them.

CrazyRabbit

Daisy M wrote: »

I think implying that soaps are unhealthy for adults is a tad over the top.
I doubt your typical adult could be influenced by caracters on soaps to go out and behave as they do. For most adults who do watch them they are some light entertainment that doesnt take any brain power to understand and can be watched while doing 101 other things. I like watching a wide variety of programmes but prefer reading. That doesnt make me any better or worse than self confessed soap addicts I am who I am as are they.

Equating watching soaps to a days working is pointless unless it is stopping you from going to work. You are no better off watching a documentary than a soap if it is inteferring with your life and stopping you preforming necessary tasks.

If adults were not influenced by what they see on TV, then there would be no advertisements. As a species, we are very susceptible to being influenced by what we see/experience. It's a strength & a weakness.

Tom Harward

in my opinion they are not suitable for kids.

Daffodil.d

I don't leave my kids watch them. I only watch eastenders but i tape it for later. Actually I am on the fence about the Simpsons even lately. I know that's not a soap but some of the content has a question mark over it. Anyway I was reading this thread and wondering how many people Sat and watched coronation street with their mothers when they were kids. I did and it had no affect on me but maybe they were just less dramatic back then.

lynski

Deliverance wrote: »

I think that drinking on soaps is becoming an issue as well as the fictional characters social lives seem to revolve around the pub, beer from the fridge and spirits when things get particularly tough. Interstingly as a point I noticed that the workers seem to drink lager whilst the 'upper class' (employers) drink spirits and tend treat the workers like sh*t. Something that the workers seem to be happy to accept as they are desperate for work.

I agree with this. I do not mean to say that people copy the behavior of their fav soap characters but i do believe that soaps contribute to the normalisation of extreme behavior. I dont know how to express it better than that.
Our brains do not function on a completely conscious level and we cannot choose where we learn our lessons, I believe the influence exists and we are not always aware of it.
Like advertising, if there was no influence why would they bother to 'cover issues' and why would the charities behind issues be scrambling to have the soaps 'cover' them?
I firmly believe, for instance, that if there was a breastfeeding character in a mainstream soap it would be very influential. I also think Corrie missed a great opportunity to get the message out about breastmilk and premmie babies last year with Fiss and Hope.
It is recognised all the time that the soaps to good work in promoting or spotlighting 'issues', so why cant their negative influences be more openly discussed?
I dont think, btw, that watching a soap full of faithful, teetotal, exercising, healthy people would be very interesting either, but for once i would like to see a couple get together and not be waiting for the 'crisis/breakup', can't someone just be happy?
So, in summary, my children will be 18 before i let them watch soaps ;-)