Sir, - Recent letters on this issue tend to suggest that the problem lies entirely with the content of television. While much TV soap opera content is unreal in the sense that so much happens to so few, the situations portrayed are all too real in society: random violence, bullying, unplanned pregnancy, marital breakdown, infidelity and suchlike. Given the nature of today's society, it is almost impossible to shield children from what is going on all around them. But it is possible to ensure that the effects of such exposure are turned to good by engaging with the children about what they see.
Research indicates that children's viewing of "difficult" content is best dealt with by parents watching the material with them and talking to them about what happens on screen. Family viewing is a strong antidote to much of the content which some of your readers find objectionable. Such viewing is becoming increasingly unlikely, however, as more and more children have television sets of their own. The rise in individual viewing rather than family viewing is a much greater cause for concern than the content of soap operas per se. Some ten years ago a quick survey of television viewing amongst fifth- and sixth-class boys in a Dublin primary school revealed that they watched five hours' television a day on weekdays and 10 hours at weekends, a total of 45 hours. With the school week only 22.5 hours long, it is little wonder that such viewing has the potential for enormous effect. Parents are rightly concerned when strangers talk to their children. They should be no less concerned when it is television that delivers the message, sadly often unheard and unchallenged by parents. - Yours, etc.,
Michael Breen, Head of Media and Communication Studies, Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick.
