Page:Bailey Review.djvu/36

The 'Wallpaper' of Children's Lives

With music videos... I have a battle on my hands with raising my son when it comes to respecting women and not to see them as sexual objects. He seems obsessed with how they look as opposed to their talents or abilities and this causes me concern." Parents, Call for Evidence response

"A disturbing thing for me is my daughter — she sees stuff on telly and thinks she has to look like that! It's the music videos for her... they're half naked — do they really need to do that to sell a song?

The music videos that children can watch are extremely explicit — from the clothes they wear to the words and actions. Some songs my 13 year old sings back are shocking.

Lots of songs contain inappropriate words and lots of sexual innuendo. My little girl loves listening to music and will copy the songs and moves without really understanding... with her friends she will often do shows for us and although usually sweet and funny, they sometimes worry me because they will be doing 'sexy dancing' and I have to try and explain why I don't think it's OK.

Parents, Review qualitative research

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Music videos are currently exempt from classification under the Video Recordings Act 1984 and 2010 (VRA) which means that, unlike films, there is no restriction on children purchasing any but the most explicit of music videos. There are also no restrictions on children downloading music videos of any nature.As the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) explains:

"Under the [Video Recordings Act 7984 and 2070] certain video works are exempt from classification because back in 1984 they were considered to be unlikely to be harmful. These are video works concerned with sport, religion or music, or designed to inform, educate or instruct. The content of these exempt works has changed beyond recognition since 1984. This has meant that inappropriate and potentially harmful content in such works, including sexual content, is exempt from statutory classification, allowing it to be legally supplied to children [In our research (Goldstone 8- Slesenger, 20 70) 700 per cent of adults surveyed felt that potentially harmful content in videos, including music videos, which are presently exempt from classification, ought to be classified, and the classification decision enforced. Content

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