Watch what they watch

THOUSANDS of parents are not well enough informed about the content of videos made for children. In recent years there have been enormous changes in the subject matter of cartoons and films. Compare the well loved Disney characters of Cinderella and Snow White with their more modern counterparts.

The glamorous Princess Jasmine in Aladdin looks so sexy and voluptuous compared to the childlike undeveloped figures of her two predecessors. Roy Disney touted the incredibly beautiful Pocahontas as the sexiest cartoon character ever.

Thirty five years ago, the original Flintstones espoused good old fashioned family values. In the new version of the film Fred flirts with his curvaceous secretary. She comes on quite strongly to him.

There is a widespread assumption that sexy scenes in films go over the heads of children. They don't. Not alone do the children know exactly what is happening, their insights into extra marital flirtations are somewhat disconcerting.

A small group of American parents was asked to allow their children take part in an experiment that cameras could overhear. They were brought to Syracuse University in New York. Boys and girls aged five to 10 were put in an observation booth with one way glass. Their parents remained outside and watched from another room.

The children were shown extracts from their favourite films including The Mask, Ace Ventura Pet Detective and a clip from The Flintstones. A researcher asked them open ended questions. Children as young as five had seen the original Ace Ventura film. You might think there would be nothing very worrying in a children's story about a pet detective and you would be very wrong. The film includes a steamy bed scene, oral sex and as a grand finale a woman is stripped and shown to be a man.

MOST PARENTS assume that it is unnecessary to supervise children's television. Perhaps it is time for them to think again. The five to seven year old girls who took part in the experiment were asked to explain what they saw on television. There is no doubt that they understood what a couple do in bed. One young girl explained: "I mean they are actually having sex in the bed. If they are lying together they have to go on top of each other and remember they are naked, right".

Not only do children know what is going on, they get the subtler messages too. For example Jessica Rabbit on Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a huge hit among young children. "Men really like her and want to marry her," one of the young girls said. Asked, "is this how you act if you like boys?", the children said a definite "yes". One little girl giggled and added, "You shove your boobs in their face".

The favourite video of the boys who took part in the experiment was the Cindy Crawford exercise video. The lads were shown pictures of models from magazines and asked to choose the picture they liked best and to explain why.

THEY WERE SHOWN two photographs of the same model. In one she was wearing a low cut dress in a provocative pose. In the other she was fully clothed. They thought the scantily dressed models were prettier. The girls also preferred less clothed male models. The kids were asked why they opted for the scantily clad models with the most provocative poses. They thought the fully clothed models looked uptight.

As you can imagine the parents were horrified and shocked. One of the psychologists who watched advised parents to draw a line on TV and films. "If we do not want to raise children who are so numb to sex that they forget what is the most important part of what sex is about which is that it is an expression of love between two people who love each other - we must do something to stop the sexualisation of our children now."

Parents usually laugh when I tell them about one little girl who viewed the Flintstones video. She was watching the part where Fred's secretary was flirting with him. When she was asked, "Is Fred like that with Wilma", she said "no". Her instant response to the question, "Why doesn't Fred act like that with Wilma", was, "probably because he is married to her". This little story may be good for a laugh, but it is worth thinking about the implications.

The child picked up the message that Fred's relationship with Wilma was less exciting than his relationship with his secretary. The subtler underlying message - extramarital sex is more exciting. Irish children watch these films and videos. It would be naive to assume that they understand less than American children. There is growing evidence to show that media influences have profound long term consequences for children and for society.