BROADCAST "TRASH"

Taranaki Daily News, 19 September 1940, Page 6

BROADCAST "TRASH"

WARNING TO SCHOOLS MEMBERS' OPINIONS

Unanimous support for the Hawkes Bay Education Board's protest to the Hon. P. Fraser, Minister of Broadcasting, regarding some of the "crime thriller" serials broadcast at the evening sessions was given by the Taranaki Education Board yesterday, the opinion being expressed that there was a "good deal of trash" in serials and music broadcasts. The Hawkes Bay Education Board in the letter forwarded to the Minister expressed grave concern regarding the nature of some items during evening sessions, particularly drawing attention to the type of serials such as "Piccadilly," "Detective Scott of Scotland Yard" and "The Black Moth." The Hawkes Bay board considered that such material was not in keeping with the best traditions of an educational system striving to develop an appreciation of more wholesome dramatic art than that based upon gunplay and crime; that they tend to bring the level of literary appreciation nearer to that of the "yellow Press"; that the undue prominence given to a life of crime and the activity of detectives and police creates a bias in the child's mind towards these less savoury aspects of civilised life; and that the immediate effect upon children was to create an unsatisfactory state of mind. Film and Radio Censorship. While a strict censorship was exercised over the screening of films, the radio more directly affected the home and even stricter censorship was desirable over radio broadcasts, considered the Hawkes Bay board. There was no doubt that much broadcast material was unsuitable for children, said Mr. S. G. Smith, who pointed out that broadcasting was a public utility that had to cater for every taste. The restless, epileptic sort of jazz music put across was far worse for neurotics than the plays, Dr. W. M. Thomson remarked. The opinion was expressed by a member that in presenting jazz music and sensational drarrki the radio had created a demand which it nOw had to meet. "Injury" Not Proven? He would support the protest, not because he considered the plays injurious to the children, but because of the amount of trash that was broadcast, said Mr. T. J. Griffen. There had been no definite proof from anyone that the detective stories that all boys read had an injurious effect on the child mind. Neither had it been proved that "gang" pic-

tures had an injurious effect on children, though perhaps after children had admitted to a magistrate that they visited the pictures three nights a week, it was presumed that they did. It also opened up the question as to whether children should be allowed access to all literature for 80 per cent. of the books in the library were filled with the sex quesfion or some other aspect unsuitable for children, though he did not think children would be influenced even if they read them. He might perhaps be unorthodox 'but he had never taken away a "Deadwood Dick" or "penny dreadful" from any children in his school, and in fact he had read any amount of such books himself, as he supposed other members had. If the radio was to be condemned, certain literature must be condemned, involving perhaps 40 per cent. of the best books in the library. He would sooner put a "Deadwood Dick" in the hands of a child thanr say, an unexpurgated copy of Shakespeare. However, he would support the resolution because the radio put over "a lot of trash." hoth in the way of "Black Moth" thrillers and music.