The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
Three Articles Concerning the Media
Article 3
1. In all actions concerning children, whether undertaken by public or private social welfare institutions, courts of law, administrative authorities or legislative bodies, the best interests of the child shall be a primary consideration.
2. Stales Parties undertake to ensure the child such protection and care as is necessary for his or her well-being, taking into account the rights and duties of his or her parents, legal guardians, or other individuals legally responsible for him or her, and, to this end, shall take all appropriate legislative and administrative measures.
3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.
Article 13
1. The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.
2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary:
(a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; or
(b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.
Article 17
States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:
(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29;
(b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and dissemination of such information and material from a diversity of cultural, national and international sources;
(c) Encourage the production and dissemination of children's books;
(d) Encourage the mass media to have particular regard to the linguistic needs of the child who belongs to a minority group or who is indigenous;
(e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing in mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18.
Children and Harmful Influences from the Media: The Significance of the UN Convention [1]
THOMAS HAMMARBERG
Times have indeed changed. Only one or two generations ago, very few children had ever seen images of someone being shot, knifed, blown up or raped in front of their bare eyes. Today most children see such violence on the screen every day, often in gruesome detail. It has been estimated that an average American child now reaching the age of eighteen has witnessed some 18,000 simulated murders on television.
The impact of this mass consumption of violent images is still a matter of deep controversy. There have been individual cases of violent crime apparently inspired by particular films. However, no consensus has been established as to the broader and more precise influence of media violence on child viewers' aggression or violent behaviour; research findings so far have been contradictory.
This should come as no surprise. Research on this topic is genuinely complicated. It has to incorporate broader social and cultural factors; including the role of parents or other guardians. The response to the media violence in the community at large also affects the child. The existence of alternative activities and their character is another important aspect. Needless to say, further research is called for on these topics, including on the indirect and long range impact on a generation growing up in a society affected by this type of ever present media culture.
Such research should ideally be child-centred and based on the one international treaty defining the rights of children in today's world: the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. This in particular as, no doubt, there are powerful economic interests at play in this discussion.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which had been ratified by 191 countries by the end of 1997 (all States with the exception of the United States and Somalia), defines certain principles to guide political decision-making affecting the child. It stipulates that such decisions should be taken with the "best interests of the child" as a primary consideration. The opinions of children themselves should be heard. Not only their survival but also their development should be ensured. Finally, there should be no discrimination between children; each child should be able to enjoy his/her rights.
These principles, with their crucial dimensions of both participation and protection, are reflected in the substantive articles of the Convention. One in particular deals with the child and the media (art. 17):
States Parties recognize the important function performed by the mass media and shall ensure that the child has access to information and material from a diversity of national and international sources, especially those aimed at the promotion of his or her social, spiritual and moral well-being and physical and mental health. To this end, States Parties shall:
(a) Encourage the mass media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child and in accordance with the spirit of article 29;
(b) Encourage international co-operation in the production, exchange and dissemination of such information and material from a diversity of cultural, national and international sources;
(c) Encourage the production and dissemination of children's books;
(d) Encourage the mass media to have particular regard to the linguistic needs of the child who belongs to a minority group or who is indigenous;
(e) Encourage the development of appropriate guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being, bearing in mind the provisions of articles 13 and 18.
The discussion
This very article was discussed several times during the decade-long drafting process. The original proposal was part of a Polish draft Convention text and much shorter:
Parents, guardians, State organs and social organizations shall protect the child against any harmful influence that the mass media, and in particular the radio, film, television, printed materials and exhibitions, on account of their contents, may exert on his mental and moral development.
The differences between this first proposal and the final text do indeed reflect the somewhat ideological discussions during the drafting. The Polish wording was seen by several government delegations as too negative towards the media in general, some of them seemed to smell an attitude of censorship. "Western" delegates, in particular, argued for formulations ensuring a free flow of information and that children should be able to take advantage of the diversity of facts and opinions in the media. They also wanted an implicit acknowledgement of the fact that some media were run privately, rather than by the State.
The end result was a clear recognition of the important function of the mass media. The role of the State was to ensure access of children to information and to encourage positive features like dissemination of information which enhance understanding, peace, tolerance, equality of sexes and friendship among all peoples, ethnic, national and religious groups and persons of indigenous origin (that is the meaning of the reference to article 29 in this context). Furthermore, the State shall encourage children's books as well as information material adapted to the needs of minority and indigenous children. International co-operation on such matters was encouraged. Finally, on the original issue -- the protection of children against injurious information and media material -- the State should encourage the development of appropriate guidelines.
Let us look closer at the last provision, the one asking for protection. It is not clear from the wording whose responsibility it is to develop guidelines, only that the State should be encouraging. However, one possibility is that the producers themselves or bodies representing them develop such standards. Another option would be that independent, special structures were created for this purpose. As on several other points, the vagueness of the Convention in this regard can be seen as an invitation to a discussion on objectives rather than offering a prescription of precise methods of implementation.
The very nature of the guidelines is also unclear, except for their purpose to protect children. Some indications are given through the references made at the end of the article to other parts of the Convention. One of them (art. 13) defines the freedom of the child to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds regardless of frontiers and type of media. Restrictions, if necessary, should be defined by law and only be justified by the respect of the rights or reputations of others or for the protection "of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals". The implication seems to be that such restrictions could be included in the "appropriate guidelines". However, their clearly limited nature seems to indicate that, in general, other means than censorship should also be tested.
The other reference (art. 18) is about the role of the parents or the legal guardians. They have "the primary responsibility for the upbringing and development of the child". The State shall assist them in their child-rearing responsibilities. This wording is a reflection of the overall attitude in the Convention on the triangular relationship between the child, the guardians and the State: the parents or other guardians are of key importance to child, the State should support them and only in exceptional cases -- in the best interests of the child -- take positions on how individual children should be reared. In this context the implication is that the guardians have a direct responsibility in protecting the child against harmful media influences and should be supported in this task.
Interpretation
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, set up to monitor the implementation of the Convention, has taken a three-dimensional approach when interpreting article 17:
1) Genuine access
The Committee has stressed the right of children to have access to the media, which also requires that States take proactive steps to make that right real. In this respect, it does not matter whether the media are state-run or private. Financial incentives or other forms of support will still often be necessary to guarantee a supply of children's literature and programmes. This may especially be the case for the production and dissemination of information material in minority languages.
2) Promotion of positive alternatives
The Committee has also asked for proactive measures for the promotion of important values such as, for instance, peace, tolerance, international understanding and respect between the sexes. This could also be seen as a "positive alternative" to the media violence. The media policy itself should complement the school in this regard.
3) Protection against abuse
The UN Committee has not seen a contradiction between child access to information and measures to protect children from negative influences from the media. It emphasises the importance of access but is at the same time deeply concerned about the possible negative impact of media violence.
To encourage meaningful "appropriate guidelines" the authorities need to develop a body of knowledge on patterns of viewing, listening and reading; on what is transmitted; on possible impact on various receivers, in various situations and of various materials; on means of effectively restricting injurious transmissions. In other words: the Committee recommends a comprehensive policy as a basis for the development of guidelines.
The sum is that the State has obligations in relation to all three dimensions and so also in countries where the media are totally private. How do governments of today live up to these ambitions?
Implementation for access
So far, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has completed the scrutiny of 37 country reports and another 26 reports have been received. These reports tell what the governments want to describe as their implementation of all the provisions of the Convention. An analysis of the reports in respect of article 17 is of interest. A number of reports in fact mention nothing or almost nothing about any of the aspects of the article: access, positive alternatives and protection against injurious influences. So was the case with reports from, for instance, Indonesia, Pakistan, Ukraine, Jamaica, Argentina and Paraguay. Cyprus and Chile only made brief references to their Constitutions. The impression left is that there is no deliberate policy or government plans.
Other reports have been more precise. Many of them are detailed on measures taken to encourage dissemination of child-oriented materials through the press, radio and television, video recordings and books. On this point there is obviously a difference between the countries based on economic resources.
The report from Nepal states:
In the rural areas, children do nor have access to the above resources (child literature and broadcasts) due to transportation and communication problems. Education materials are also very expensive. There is little incentive to produce educational materials for children because of the high illiteracy rate. There is also little diversity in the materials available for children, whether they be on TV, radio or in newspapers. The ability to gain something from the media is largely determined by the educational status and literacy levels of children.
The reports from Yemen and Honduras flag similar constraints. However, such concerns are also voiced by some of the countries in transition. In Mongolia the production of child literature has declined sharply due to financial problems. Russia is another example:
Textbook publishing is ... facing an acute financial crisis. Production costs have recently increased on average by a factor of 10, making textbooks significantly less affordable .... The acute shortage of children's literature reduces children's interest in learning their native tongues ...
Vietnam:
Shortages of funds have prevented satisfactory expansion in the diversity of children's material available to in the mass media. The number of children's televisions programmes broadcast has fallen over the last two years, and a large number of local libraries have had to close, unable to pay for new books and periodicals.
Both Russia and Vietnam made clear that they could not meet the standards of providing literature in minority languages due to these economic problems. Spain on the other hand, presented an impressive list of data banks made available for young people.
The general trend seems to be that governments are aware of the importance of child media in all its forms, though minority children are in some cases not given sufficient priority. This also goes for deaf and blind children who also need to be ensured information material in appropriate forms and translations.
However, resources are lacking. In fact, this particular area seems to be an important one for international co-operation: economic assistance but also exchange of ideas and experiences. The latter is especially important in view of the great gap in the quality of information material between poor countries and those with higher technological standard.
However, only a few country reports mention the importance of international co-operation. One exception is Portugal:
The Portuguese authorities attach great importance to international co-operation to facilitate the production, exchange and dissemination of information and documents of social and cultural usefulness for the child.
Implementation of positive alternatives
What has been reported on "positive alternatives", media activities for children which would promote positive values? -- In fact, surprisingly little. The report from Namibia, however, contains some clear statements indicating a political approach to the content of media:
The main objective of government policy on information is to ensure that the media, in addition to fulfilling their traditional roles of public enlightenment, education and entertainment, serve as a catalyst for nation-building and socio-economic development. The National Development Plan 1991/92 stipulates that the mass media must also be deployed to combat ignorance and illiteracy.
In the Philippines a private group, the Philippine Board of Books for Young People, is "propagating love of reading books" among children in activities similar to the remarkable reading campaign organised by the Tamer Institute in the West Bank and Gaza.
In Mexico the General Law on Radio and Television stipulates that programmes for children should stimulate creativity, family integration and human solidarity. Further, they should promote understanding of national values and knowledge of the international community.
Similar legislation is in place in several European countries. In Sweden the Broadcasting Act instructs the programme companies to assert basic ideas of democracy, universal human equality, liberty and dignity of the individual. The effectiveness of this general approach can, however, be questioned. In fact, it seems that the liberal societies have had difficulties to find means of asserting this good values without falling into the trap of formulating State opinions on ideological and political matters. More authoritarian States do not have that problem, though their rhetorics -- even when expressing positive values -- are not always taken seriously.
One way of making more reality of the intention of the convention in this regard would be to give children and youth more access to the production of information and media material. Experiments in that direction have been encouraging; positive models of child television have been established, for instance, in Guatemala and El Salvador.
Implementation for protection
The reports reflect a stark divide between the industrialised liberal countries and other States on the degree of awareness and on measures taken in relation to harmful impact of media violence. The impression given is that several governments in the South had not had reasons to tackle this problem yet -- or had little capacity for it. Some of them seem to be considering steps for moving out of the innocence, one example is Vietnam:
Another worrying tendency is the increasingly common appearance in the press of items dealing with sex and violence, the justification for this being apparently that items of this sort attract more readers, an important consideration in the market-oriented economic conditions of Viet Nam. These items are nor suitable for children, but their appearance and children's access to them are difficult to control.
Several countries mention that they have a system of censorship to "protect the child's development and psychological balance" (Burkina Faso) or to ensure that information material "are not harmful to them" (Senegal). The more concrete operations of these systems -- and their effectiveness -- are not explained in any detail. The reports submitted from the countries in eastern and central Europe also indicate that a more comprehensive policy in this field is indeed lacking.
The reports from Canada and western European countries are, however, detailed and seem to be based on thorough national discussions for some years. Several approaches are tried simultaneously. All of these countries seem to have legislation against certain serious abuses; one example is the report from Germany where "certain representations of violence ... and pornographic materials" are prohibited in the criminal law.
Advertising is restricted. In Spain, for instance, the General Act on Advertising bans publicity which is detrimental to values and rights laid down in the Constitution. Special rules regulate marketing of certain products (e.g. tobacco and beverages) or activities (e.g. betting and games of chance) in order to protect children.
Another common approach is to regulate the timing for the broadcasting of adverts and other material. The idea is that programmes which could be harmful for children be broadcast late in the evenings (when children are supposed to be in bed). This could be stipulated through law, special instructions or voluntary agreements by the media themselves.
In France an independent authority, the Audiovisual Media Board, has been set up to ensure the protection of children in the planning of broadcasts. It has issued guidelines for the television channels and initiated proceedings against violations of them. In the United Kingdom the BBC, the Independent Television Commission and the Radio Authority have all established guidelines for the protection of children against material which could harm their mental, moral or physical development:
.Guidelines on children's programmes cover the areas of violence, language and general taste and decency. These guidelines take into account the context of the action and the danger of imitative behaviour by children. In the area of news and factual programmes there is a particular awareness of a child's vulnerability and suggestibility. Broadcasters must also be aware of the dangers to children of programmes which include psychic or occult practices, smoking, drinking alcohol and drug taking
Furthermore, there is in Britain a special Council established in accordance with the 1990 Broadcasting Act which in its Code of Practice emphasises the protection of children against unsuitable material on television.
The Canadian report says that considerable progress has been made in addressing the problem of violence in the media. This after a 14-year-old girl -- whose sister had been robbed, raped and brutally killed -- had organised a successful petition campaign for legislation eliminating violence on television:
In 1993, the Action Group on Violence in Television, which includes broadcasters, cable distributors, pay television and speciality programming services, advertisers and producers, announced a General Statement of Principles to be adhered to by all industry sectors as they strengthen their codes on television violence. The Canadian Association of Broadcasters was the first to have their revised code accepted by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission.
In countries where there is one strong national broadcasting corporation it may be easier to establish a link between political intention and actual programme policy. The YLE Broadcasting Company in Finland is one example; it has a deliberate policy of avoiding certain violent programmes, gives clear warnings in advance of broadcasting some material and also conducts research studies about their impact.
Several reports refer to the system of age classification for the cinema. One example is Denmark:
All films to be shown in public are -- under the Act of Censorship of Films -- to be reviewed and evaluated in relation to an audience of children and young persons. At the moment there are two age limits as to prohibition, i.e. 12 years and 16 years, and in addition to this an age limit of 7 years is intended as a guide.
In some countries these limits also depend on whether the child go with an adult or is unaccompanied. A particular problem has been how to cope with the expanding film market. This is illustrated through another quote from the Danish report:
A revision of the censorship of films is being considered, one of the reasons being the ever-increasing supply of films on TV and the video market which are not covered by the Act on Censorship in force.
In Finland commercial videos are subject to the same censorship procedures as cinema films. In France the approach is similar:
...video cassettes offered for rental or sale must indicate on their packaging any prohibitions linked to the issue of the certificate of release for the work.
The most comprehensive overall approach seems to have been taken by Norway -- after the submission of their report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child. In March 1995 the government issued a national plan of action against violence in the visual media. [2] This was a joint initiative by the ministries of culture and justice with the co-operation of two other ministries: the ministry for child and family affairs and the ministry for church affairs, education and research. The plan says that even if only a small minority of young people are influenced by violent media consumption the consequences could still be serious. It also concludes that social and cultural poverty increases the risks and it emphasises the preventive efforts, not least within the school.
The Norwegian plan proposes some legal precisions to include also, for instance, the video games. Its emphasis though is on assisting children and parents to make informed choices. The plan seeks to mobilise viewers and consumers to use their power and express opinions about the supply. Another ambition with the plan is that those who transmit extreme violence on the screen be held responsible. Another major aspect, again, is that networks and alliances have been built to develop knowledge and reactions against media violence.
A special secretariat has been established to monitor the implementation of the Norwegian plan; a co-ordinating committee between the ministries has also been set up as well as an advisory council of experts. There will be annual reports to the parliament.
The Norwegian approach seems to be unusually thorough and conscientious. However, the impression of the country reports from the industrialised countries, in general, is one of awareness and deep concern. The guidelines for television, including on broadcasting hours, which exist in a number of countries, may not always be respected and, moreover, seem not to stem the high volume of violence hour after hour. A particular problem is the news reporting which sometimes is illustrated with violent images, the impact of which may be even stronger than abusive fictions.
Voluntary guidelines for the press do exist in several countries; in several cases their implementation is monitored by a Press Council which is set up, wholly or partly, by the press institutions themselves. These, however, tend to focus more on the protection of children being reported upon, than on problems related to the publishing of material harmful to young readers.
The total impression of the reports from the industrialised countries is one of awareness and deep concern. The guidelines for television, including on broadcast hours, may not always be respected and, moreover, seem not to stem the high volume of violence hour after hour. A particular problem is the news reporting which sometimes is illustrated with violent images, the impact of which may be even stronger than abusive fictions.
The exploding market of videos for sale or rental have created new problems in making a distinction between child and adult consumption. Classified descriptions of the content on the package, which offer a kind of violence rating, can be of some help to parents but probably do not protect all children in real life. Computer games of a violent nature raise similar problems.
Conclusions
1. The Convention stresses both the right to access to information and the right to be protected against harmful material. This combined approach -- especially if access is broadened through proactive initiatives, for instance for minority children -- seems essential for the development of a comprehensive policy on children and media. Effective incentives for the production of positive material for children may be as effective as trying to limit the negative ones.
2. Some countries have indeed developed a variety of approaches in this field in what appears to be a deliberate policy. However, there seems to be little international co-operation to support the less resourceful countries with means and advice for access as well as prevention. In fact, also the richer States may benefit from further exchange on, for instance, how to develop techniques to get the information producers to respect the rights of the child.
3. The Convention gives no guidance on what type of violence in the media should be regarded as harmful; the interpretation on this delicate matter also varies between countries. Extreme instances tend to be criminalised, bur the grey zone can be wide. Regulations -- voluntary or mandatory -- on certain hours for broadcasting or ages for entry to cinemas seem to have had some positive effect as have advice to parents. New methods of protection are needed in connection with videos and computer programmes consumed in the homes.
4. The discussion on media violence have to include a broader perspective on how children now spend their day. The media problem is augmented by the fact that many children spend more time in front of television than in school and that their time with the parents is reduced. For instance, many children do not have an adult present to explain violent images in the news and to put these into an understandable context. This recent social pattern raises a number of fundamental questions which seem not to be sufficiently addressed in several countries. It also, again, stresses the importance of high quality output on the screen, "positive alternatives".
5. Governments need to take corrective measures to avoid effects of market forces which violate the "best interests of the child": through legislation, initiating independent monitoring but also through proactive steps to encourage alternatives. However, the problem of demand remains. Concerned citizens should make clear their opinions to the producers -- as was made in Canada in response to the appeal from the 14-year-old girl -- that exploitation of violence will no longer be a lucrative marker.
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Notes
1. The article is an update of a paper published in Violence on the Screen and the Rights of the Child. Report from a seminar in Lund, Sweden, September 1995, Swedish National Commission for UNESCO, No.2, 1996, pp. 162-177.
2. Regjeringens Handlingsplan mot Vold i Bildemediene can be ordered from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Media Department, PO Box 8030, 0030 Oslo. There is also an English version: The Norwegian Government's Campaign to Combat Violence in the Visual Media.
The Child and the Media: A Report From the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child
THOMAS HAMMARBERG
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child met on 7 October 1996 for a general discussion on the issue of "the child and the media". The Committee had invited representatives of United Nations organs, bodies and specialized agencies, other competent bodies, including non-governmental organizations, media representatives, research and academic organizations and children, to contribute to the discussions and provide expert advice.
By way of introduction, the Committee expressed the view that, as with human rights in general, the press and other media have essential functions in promoting and protecting the fundamental rights of the child and in helping to make reality of the principles and standards of the Convention. The Committee also expressed the view that the media could play a pivotal role in monitoring the actual realization of the rights of the child.
Special reference was made to the "image" of the child given by the media, which can either create and convey respect for children and young people or spread prejudices and stereotypes which may have a negative influence on public opinion and politicians. Reference was also made to the protection of the privacy of the child by the media, in reporting about, for instance, involvement in criminal activities, sexual abuse or family problems, and to the protection of children against information that may have negative and harmful impact on them, primarily programmes containing brutal violence and pornography. Finally, reference was made to the role of the media in offering children the possibility to express themselves.
The Committee identified three main areas to be considered during the debate:
Child participation in the media: In short, the discussion here centred around the importance of children participating not just as commentators, but at all levels of the information and media production process. Therefore, adequate mechanisms must be developed to enable the child to participate. Not only the media as such but also parents and professionals working with and for children must help children to make their voices heard. Among many other things mentioned, the potential positive impact of technology for children's rights was underlined, as well as the importance of their access also to all traditional media.
Protection of the child against harmful influences through the media: It was said, that States should take concrete measures to encourage the media to disseminate information and material of social and cultural benefit to the child, as called for in article 17(a). The clear identification of harmful influences in media was considered essential, as well as the need to raise, through school and other fora, the awareness of children on how to tackle media issues in a critical and constructive manner. Also, a better balance ought to be reached in the media between concern for protection and accurate reflection of the real world. A better balance is needed, too, regarding cultural diversity and gender bias. It was recognized that freedom of expression was not incompatible with the strong prohibition of material injurious to the child's well-being. Specific reference was also made to Internet, for example, the idea to develop in all countries hot-lines where Internet users can transmit information on existing harmful sites.
Respect for the integrity of the child in media reporting: In short, it was stressed that media play an essential role in the promotion and protection of human rights in general, and should be particularly vigilant in trying to safeguard the integrity of the child. For example, media must take into account the best interests of the child when children are sources of information, as in interviews or simulations with child victims of violence and abuse. Reference was also made to the most common stereotypes in media reporting about children, such as the "violent teenager" or the misrepresentation of children from specific groups.
On the basis of the discussions on the three areas and in my capacity as rapporteur of the meeting, I formulated the following recommendations:
1. Child media: A dossier should be compiled on positive and practical experiences of active child participation in media, like 'Children's Express' in the United Kingdom and the United States.
2. Child forum within Internet: The UNICEF-initiated 'Voices of Youth' at the World Wide Web should be further promoted and advertised as a positive facility for international discussion on important issues between young people.
3. Active child libraries: The experience of dynamic child libraries, or child departments within public libraries, should be documented and disseminated.
4. Media education: Knowledge about media, their impact and functioning should be taught in schools at all levels. Students should be enabled to relate to and use the media in a participatory manner as well as to learn how to decode media messages, including in the advertising. Good experiences in some countries should be made available to others.
5. State support to media for children: There is a need for budgetary support to ensure the production and dissemination of children's books, magazines and papers; music, theatre and other artistic expressions for children as well as child oriented films and videos. Assistance through international co-operation should also support media and art for children.
6. Constructive agreements with media companies to protect children against harmful influences: Facts should be gathered about various attempts of voluntary agreements with media companies on positive measures such as not broadcasting violent programmes during certain hours, clear presentations before programmes about their content and the development of technical devices -- like 'V-chips' -- to help consumers to bloc out certain types of programmes. Likewise, experiences of voluntary ethical standards and mechanisms to encourage respect for them should be assembled and evaluated; this should include an analysis of the effectiveness of existing Codes of Conduct, professional guidelines, Press Councils, Broadcast Councils, Press Ombudsmen and similar bodies.
7. Comprehensive national plans of action to empower parents in the media market: Governments should initiate a national discussion on means to promote positive alternatives to the negative tendencies in the media market, to encourage media knowledge and support parents in their role as guides to their children when relating with electronic and other media. An international workshop should be organized to promote a discussion on this approach.
8. Advice on implementation of article 17 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: A study should be conducted with the purpose of developing advice to governments on how they could encourage the development of 'guidelines for the protection of the child from information and material injurious to his or her well-being'. Such a study should also serve the purpose of assisting the Committee on the Rights of the Child in drafting a General Comment on article 17.
9. Specific guidelines for reporting on child abuse: To encourage further discussions in the news rooms and within the media community as a whole guidelines should be drafted by relevant journalist bodies on how to report on abuse of children and at the same time protect the dignity of the children involved. Special emphasis should be placed on the issue of not exposing the identity of the child.
10. Handbook material for journalist education on child rights: Material should be produced to assist journalist and media schools on child rights standards, established procedures for child rights monitoring, existing international, regional and national institutions working with children as well as basic aspects of child development. The manual planned by the United Nations Centre for Human Rights as a tool for journalist education on human rights should be widely disseminated when produced.
11. Network for media watchgroups: The positive experiences of media watchgroups in various countries should be further encouraged and 'good ideas' transferred between countries. The purpose is to give media consumers a voice in the discussion on media ethics and children. A focal point for exchanges should be established.
12. Service to 'child rights correspondents': Interested journalists should be invited to sign in to a list of 'Child Rights Correspondents'. They should receive regular information about important child issues, interesting reports by others and be seen as media advisers to the international child rights community.
A working group met on April, 14, 1997 to consider constructive ways of ensuring implementation of the twelve recommendations and other proposals made during the discussion. Authorities, organizations and individuals are welcome with further suggestions to Paolo David, Centre for Human Rights, United Nations, 1211 Geneva 10, Schweiz.
Youth and Communication
CARLOS A. ARNALDO & ASA FINNSTROM
We are living today in a young world. More than half of the world's population is under the age of 29, and even younger in some of the developing regions still marked by high birth rates and multi-million populations.
But if this demographic information is true, it can be asked why so little television programming is relevant to young people? Why is TV oriented more towards violence, often gratuitous violence: the use of violence to express power or authority over others, violence as "the right way" to solve problems and conflict, violence for the sake of violence, even violence for fun? One might also ask, is TV merely reflecting the violence that already exists in the world, or is TV provoking its viewers to increased violence? And is this why we still have wars, genocide and ethnic butchering?
In a more constructive spirit we could ask how we can help young people to understand and use media? How could they participate audio-visually and electronically in the world debate, to create "young media space," as urged by the United Nations World Forum of Youth in Vienna, November 1996?
UNESCO is concerned with these questions which directly affect young people in today's society, those who will continue to build democracy in our traces. These issues are also intimately bound with our mandate: the founding states promised in the UNESCO Charter that they would "save succeeding generations from the scourges of war". UNESCO is also concerned about protecting the young, and especially the very young children from gratuitous violence, sexual exhibition, pornography and paedophilia. But in doing this, states should not formulate extreme measures of regulation in violation of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, nor of Article 13 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child which contains the analogous formulation for children:
The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice ...
Seen from a holistic perspective, it is also necessary to appreciate the familiar, social and cultural factors that determine a child's psychological disposition and lay the foundations for understanding how much [they] see and act in their world. Ironically, much of today's research is pointing to a world-wide breakdown in the family, the school and the community.
UNESCO: new perspectives
Conscious of these difficulties, UNESCO has initiated an action theme on communication and the young, to review the factors concerning violence on the screen, to promote dialogue among the actors concerned, and to encourage young people to become critical and conscious users of media and producers of media messages. In this section, we present the earlier activities in order to better appreciate the gains made in 1997.
The round table of New Delhi
In April 1994 UNESCO, with the co-operation of the Indian Permanent Delegation and National Commission and with the financial support of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), convened a small round table of heads of public television. This brought together Doordarshan in India and All India Radio, China Central Television, Indonesian Television, the Asian Mass Communication Research and Information Centre (AMIC, Singapore), BBC, United Kingdom, TV5, France, and CNN, USA.
The report of the Chairman of IPDC, Mr. Torben Krogh, reflected professional concerns; restrictive legislation or other forms of control by governments or external bodies were both undesirable and ineffective in reducing violence; television broadcasters themselves should set up guidelines and impose self-discipline to adhere to them; public national broadcasting was considered the principal means for counteracting imported TV violence; financial and technical means to improve and increase national indigenous television production should be reinforced. [1]
Non-violence and television also became the subject for discussion at the IPDC thematic debate [2] in January 1996. Papers were delivered by Herve Bourges, President of the Supreme Broadcasting Council, France; S.K. Kapoor, Director-General of Doordarshan Television, India, and Colin Shaw, Director of the Broadcast Standards Council, UK. This Council also prepared a survey of selected TV organisations on how guidelines are drawn up and implemented by the industry.
Conference of Lund
From 26-27 September 1995 in the medieval city of Lund in Sweden, UNESCO cooperated with the Swedish National Commission of UNESCO in organising the International Conference on Violence on the Screen and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. [3] This forum gathered some 150 media producers and managers, researchers, journalists, politicians and teachers to discuss the threats to young audiences confronted by violence on TV and film screens as well as in electronic games.
The participants discussed the social effects of screen violence on young people; the aggravation of this situation by too easy access to programmes through cable and dish; electronic games appealing to baser instincts; and the too facile portrayal of pornography and child sex through multi-media techniques on world data systems such as Internet.
Participants were convinced that beyond violence on the screen, one must also examine the growing social impact of the information revolution and the new techno-economic paradigm it presupposes. They were also concerned that the only law to prevail would be the law of the market, that is, whatever makes money is produced and distributed. They supported the essential role of public service broadcasting to limit commercial pressures on media programming, to ensure proper social and artistic standards, and to reduce screen violence. While many urged the need to encourage self-regulation of the media, many referred to the words of the UNESCO Director-General concerning the as yet unused power of the audience, that "We can indeed turn off the TV!" In support of this, other participants held that the solutions must come not only from the industry but from within the family, since it is the family influence that in the long run will prevail or fail, and not television.
A very concrete outcome of the Lund seminar was the decision to set up an international clearinghouse on children and violence on the screen.
World youth forum
From 11 to 13 September 1996, non-governmental organisations, teachers and students gathered under the banner of the International Union of Family Organizations in Montreal. This was Prepcom, a colloquium to prepare inputs to the UN World Forum on youth to be held in Vienna, Austria, later in the year. UNESCO contributed the keynote paper on communication and youth, which sought to present the reasons why there is a communication gap between the young and the older generation; why one of the hardest things in the modern world is to speak to one's own children, and why parents find it impossible to bequeath what they believe are the lasting values of life: hard work, honesty, a solid education, good upbringing. The approaches made by adults are not only a question of education, but need to include efforts to listen as well as to speak, to learn as much as to teach, to appreciate rather than merely condemn. The paper asked whether there is not only a generation gap, but a communication gap. Is communication the problem or rather the solution?
UNESCO also participated in the UN World Youth Forum in Vienna, 21-25 November 1996, and assisted the young participants in the formulation of two projects, UN Cafes and Young media space.
UNESCO, children and the media in 1997
Many of the activities concerning children and violence on the screen initiated earlier, and often in partnership with UNESCO National Commissions, universities, NGOs and research groups bore fruit in 1997.
Forum on youth and media tomorrow
Over and beyond the question of violent content in the media, a more piercing question is how young people use media: in what situations, for what purposes and also how they perceive what they see and hear. The international forum of researchers in Paris 21 to 25 April 1997, Youth and the Media -- Tomorrow, tried to grasp this wide field. More than 350 researchers participated and over 60 papers were proposed. Organised by the Groupe de Recherche sur la Relation Enfants/Medias (GRREM) with UNESCO's intellectual and financial contribution, the forum surveyed the current situation and trends of research concerning the relationship between young people and the media, and sought through round tables to enlighten those with the power to act. The forum showed among other things that the relationship of children to television is much more complex than the general field of research has so far led us to believe.
During the forum attention was paid to the fact that the variety of national contexts and media systems has led researchers to pose questions in different ways. Researchers from different countries also stressed the apparent fixation of much of North American research to focus only on violence. This was also found to distract attention from the larger and more complicated psycho-cultural context in which violent dispositions are formed. It was also shown that there is new research in the U.S. with more contextual variables to modify certain media effects.
Several papers demonstrated how social and educational institutions are carrying learning programmes to introduce young people to understanding, criticising and using the mass media, photography, radio, video or Internet. As requested by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, a preliminary report [4] was drawn up summarising these 'best practices'. These will be further compiled with inputs from other specialised agencies and NGOs.
Scout survey: young people's perception of violence on the screen
The World Organization of the Scout Movement completed the field work for the survey of Young people's perception of violence on the screen. This was under the supervision of Jacques Cassaigneau and Mateo Jover. Young scouts, and local partners, administered questionnaires in 23 countries. Over 5,000 questionnaires have been tabulated, analysed and reviewed for conclusions by Prof. Dr. Jo Groebel of the University of Utrecht. A summary report of four pages is available in French and in English; in addition a longer, 20 page report is available in English. [6] The final comprehensive report is scheduled for publication in 1998.
More than 5,000 12-year-old pupils from 23 countries selected from the entire range of the Human Development Index (1994 data but as reported in the UNDP Human Development Report of 1997) participated, thus contributing more than 250,000 data. These young people had no particular organisational bonds, came from both urban and rural background, high and low aggression areas, high and low technology countries. This means that this survey is the largest of its kind ever conducted on this subject and in a comprehensive manner.
The survey shows that television is an ever present medium in all the areas surveyed and that children spend more time before the TV (average of 3 hours) than with any other medium (radio or books) or any other single activity including homework. Almost everyone sampled knows Terminator, Rambo or names a favourite local hero as a main model. Overall this means that many children are surrounded by an environment where "real" and media experiences both support the view that violence is natural. A violent hero like Terminator seems to represent the characteristics which children think are necessary to solve difficult situations. The fascination with violence is often related to heroes who are rewarded for their actions because they can cope with every problem. Violence on the screen thus becomes attractive as a model for solving real life problems and thus contributes to a global aggressive culture.
But violence on the screen is not the only factor. The study cautions: "It is crucial to identify the impact of the children's personality, their actual environment, experience with aggression, family circumstances and cultural context. These are the fundamental conditions which determine a person's disposition for violence." The report also proposes recommendations for further public debate among the concerned actors, and reinforcement of media education to promote a critical posture among media-consumers. It points to the UNESCO International Clearinghouse on Children and Violence on the Screen as a resource for working out solutions to this social problem.
Clearinghouse on children and violence on the screen
Up to now it has been almost impossible to undertake new research or even review the researches already published because there has been no single resource facility to collect, analyse and disseminate information on the subject of children, violence on the screen and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is why the Lund Conference urged the setting up of such a clearinghouse and the Nordic Information Center for Media and Communication Research (Nordicom) at University of Goteborg in Sweden, was proposed for this task. Nordicom has already had a long experience of co-operation and strengthening of links among researchers within the Nordic countries but also with other parts of the world.
The guiding framework for this work is the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, in which Article 13 deals with freedom of expression of children and Article 17 covers the child and the media. The Convention stresses the need of children to have access to information but also urges that appropriate guidelines be drawn up for the protection of the child from injurious content.
The primary objectives of the Clearinghouse are to highlight the question of violence on the screen related to young persons, to stimulate initiatives and activities to combat gratuitous violence, and to promote a better basis for policy formulation in this domain. The data collected by the Clearinghouse will be available through internationally accessible databases to researchers, media professionals and other specialists concerned. Information is also circulated on a regular basis in printed form in a newsletter, and particularly through the Yearbook. The Swedish Government and UNESCO both support the Clearinghouse.
Conclusions
From all these actions, certain conclusions begin to stand out:
1. The relation between violence in the media and violence in reality is not very well understood in all its complexity. Too much attention has been paid to strictly causal relations (very difficult to demonstrate) rather than to understanding the whole process of young people's cognitive learning and how they form attitudes and lifelong positions. This was cited several times during the UNESCO/GRREM forum of researchers in April 1997 on Youth and the Media -- Tomorrow. It was also confirmed empirically in the 23-country survey on children's perceptions of violence on the screen.
2. While there may be an increasing amount of violence portrayed in the media, one also needs to examine the supportive role of society as a whole (family, school and community) as these will likely have a greater influence on individual behavior than just the TV set. And therefore remedies might well be sought in this larger context of society rather than in the media alone.
3. Protection of the young is important, but not at the expense of universal rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression. The right to freedom of expression is an individual and inalienable right, and serves as the foundation of democracy.
4. In taking programme decisions, audio-visual industry managers, as well as various audio-visual entertainment industries and distributors, should work in a spirit of self-discipline and where possible according to guidelines worked out by the professionals themselves.
And from this, some seemingly paradoxical working hypotheses appear to emerge:
1. The media are deeply influenced by market forces. But well-articulated societal goals and the active pursuance of these goals can raise the quality of media productions. This is all the more so, if these goals are supported by informed groups concerned to protect both civil freedoms and the interests of children;
2. that the more the media are free and self-disciplined, the more effectively they can contribute to the social, educational and cultural goals that society sets itself;
3. That the question of child participation in the media is linked with the larger question of effective participation of children in society as a whole -- in particular, the child's place in the home and in school;
4. that far more research is needed to clarify the potential contribution or damage which popular media may bring to the psychological well-being and education of children. And therefore the role of a clearinghouse is all the more relevant.
What is at issue, finally, is the ability of society as a whole to make informed choices about the type of media it wants.
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Notes:
1. Torben Krogh, Non-violence, Tolerance and Television, Report of the Chairman of the International Programme for the Development of Communication. Paris: UNESCO, 1995. Also available in French.
2. UNESCO, Report of the International Programme for the Development of Communication, 17th Session. Paris: UNESCO, January 1997.
3. Violence on the Screen and the Rights of the Child. Report from a seminar in Lund, Sweden. Stockholm: Svenska Unesco-radets skriftserie nr 2, 1996.
4. Carlos A. Arnaldo and Helle Jensen, Helping Young People Learn Media: a preliminary compilation of best practices. Paris: UNESCO, 1997.
5. Prof. Dr. Jo Groebel, Young People's Perception of Violence on the Screen: A joint project of UNESCO, the World Organization of the Scout Movement.
6. See the article by Jo Groebel in this Yearbook.