THE PRESS MONDAY, APRIL 16, 1984. Teachers as film censors

Press, 16 April 1984, Page 20

THE PRESS MONDAY, APRIL 16, 1984. Teachers as film censors

The Minister of Education, Mr Wellington, has upset some teachers because he has pronounced against their taking primary and intermediate school pupils, in school groups, to see films that have been recommended by the censor for people aged 13 and older. The Minister has done exactly what he should do. He has no obvious choice but to respect the decisions of the film censor, or of the Films Censorship Board of Review. Some teachers will hold that they know better than either authority, perhaps they are right in some instances. Nevertheless, they do not have the power to overrule the gradings given to films and to require youngsters, parents, or the schools to spend time and money on going to films that are not deemed suitable for young children. Parents, and the children themselves, may take a different view. Films that carry a GY rating are open to youngsters below the age of 13. Some children will enjoy them, understand them, and learn from them. The same may be said of other things offered to children in the school curriculum. Much will depend on the child’s development and the quality or skill of teaching. Such films as “Richard III,” “Jane Eyre,” “Wuthering Heights,” and “Romeo and Juliet,” were not made with the classroom in mind and, for all their artistic worth and possible ratings as film classics, are likely to be a waste of time for young children. No-one is banning children from seeing such films. The question is simply whether teachers should steer their pupils into the cinemas to see these films. If teachers think that some film ratings are mistaken, they can encourage the exhibitors to seek a review of the

rating. This process takes time, but it should be readily available for all the films mentioned, and many others, without much delay. A whole class of primary school children might get a good deal of satisfaction from seeing “Romeo and Juliet,” or “Richard III,” at the simple levels of action, spectacle, costume, and excitement. In these respects, the result is very little different from the satisfaction of seeing the average-to-good film on television. This response is not the presumed reason why teachers would want to pay a class visit to the cinema. The fact that the Minister of Education has even been drawn into giving a direction on such matter is the most surprising thing in the whole business. Teachers may protest that the classic plays are better seen than read; even that classic novels are better introduced to 10 or 12-year-olds on film. If, however, teaching time is to be consumed at the cinema — and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with this — it should be time and money well spent, and spent for reasons that are widely beneficial to the class. Most children have time enough to see such films outside school hours, and a fair chance that later, and at more receptive ages, they will benefit from films and other entertainment for which the education system has, it may be hoped, prepared them. Enthusiasts for such classic films may even persuade children and parents that the experience is so worth while that some GY films warrant time outside classroom hours. This would be, indeed, a fair measure of popular judgment and of teachers’ ability to win respect and understanding for good films.