TELEVISION soaps like Brookside are "polluting the minds" of our children, a Catholic magazine has claimed.
Reality, published by the Redemptorists, argues in its February edition that soaps are confronting young audiences with more and more sexually explicit material, with little or no reference to moral values.
It singles out a recent incest theme in Brookside, which culminated in a scene where a younger sibling finds his brother and sister in bed together and is subsequently run over by a car as he runs from the house in shock.
"Shown late at night," the magazine's editor, Father Gerard Moloney, writes, "this scene would have been disturbing. But Brookside is broadcast at either 8 p.m. or 8.30 p.m., three nights a week, before the 9 p.m. watershed far programmes considered unsuitable for younger viewers."
He criticises the high content of adolescent sex in early evening soaps like Home and Away, Neighbours, Heartbreak High and The Ward. "These soaps show people having one night stands, committing adultery, sleeping around or engaged in lesbian affairs as if these were perfectly acceptable and normal patterns of behaviour."
However, Ms Mary Halpin, senior scriptwriter on RTE's Fair City, says such criticisms could be extended to programmes like the Six one news, which regularly includes explicit mention of sexual offences, including those by priests.
"I have a problem with what Brookside did because I think it's a case of `we've done lesbianism and incest - what can we do next?' I believe the themes have to come from characters, which is what happened when we dealt with homosexuality, for instance," she said.
"But we get criticised when we deal with these issues and criticised when we don't, for not reflecting real life problems. The other end of the spectrum from Brookside is Coronation Street, which is completely anachronistic and reflects a world that doesn't exist any more."
Ms Halpin says her "litmus test" is her seven year old son. "If I can explain the issues to him, my cons' deuce is clear. But sometimes it's the things he hears on the news that I have a problem with."
Father Moloney argues that parents should demand of broadcasters that the programmes be shown later. Parents should also take a more active interest in what their children are viewing.
