“A” CERTIFICATE

Evening Star, Issue 22881, 12 February 1938, Page 12

“A” CERTIFICATE

PICTURES AND CHILDREN The modern child is a being of great importance, for each of his needs is studied by experts of one sort or another, yet there is one thing which does not receive quite the consideration it deserves, says E. Germond in the ‘ Cape Times.’ The cinema is a strong influence and a source of potential danger in the lives of many modern children, but the fact is often ignored by those whose duty it is to regulate these influences. At one time any outbreak in juvenile crime was ascribed to cinema-going. Now, as so often happens, the pendulum has swung the other way, and many people, when they think of the matter at all, are inclined to believe that it has no influence whatever. They are satisfied if children only see films marked suitable for children and not for adults only.

What they do not realise is that a film for adults may leave a child quite unharmed, simply because he does not understand the meaning of what is going on, and is therefore too bored to ' keep a sustained interest in the picture' —the story of which might be unfit for children. Passionate lovemaking is not understood by children—it merely moves them to hilarious laughter. Boys especially are affected in this way. Another film with a “ good ” story, however, may contain just one little flash which may be harmful. Grownups are apt to forget that children are the most discerning of creatures and grasp things that their elders imagine they have missed. A scene, for intance, where a man is seen furtively to enter a woman's room, even if no subsequent “ bedroom scene ” is shown, is likely to make an unpleasant impression on the mind of an imaginative child. CUSTARD PIE COMEDY. Custard' pie comedy is often frowned on by parents, yet it is the most healthy, form of amusement a child can get front the films. Its harralessness lies in the fact that nothing is left to the imagination, and that it is far too unreal to give a child a wrong impression of life. The idea of “ getting one’s own. back,” so often a feature of this type of film, is at once an outlet and a satisfaction to the normal child. It is in these pictures that he sees the effect of so many of the things he has always wanted to dp himself. Nothing delights him so much as to see a pile of crockery crashing to the floor. Gangster films cannot ho so harmful as many people think, 'since children have always had their robbers and pirates. Why should they he deprived of these old friends merely because they are now called crooks? Only two! things are necessary to make the gangster film fit for children: the, gangster, must not be a sympathetic character, nor must he win in the end. Usually the censor takes care of both these points. Educational films can never be made to take the place of amusement in the child’s scheme of things. He is too quick to recognise any attempt to disguise a lesson or to dress up a sermon, and he greatly resents being deceived 1 in this way. Make lessons more interesting by the use of moving pictures by, all means, but the child needs hi* amusement as well. Even educational films should be passed by a censor who knows something of child psychology. The magnified head of an insect is quite enough to strike terror into the hearts of some children. When one thinks of the gruesome stories of giants, ogres, and evil witches on which children are still fed, most of what one sees on the screen is quite benign. It is true that children need _ phantasy, and this they get in the innocent cartoons shown in children’s programmes. The real danger of cinema-going lies in the polluted atmosphere a child must breathe in. some of the older places of entertainment, where ventilation has not been brought up to date. - Another harmful effect is eye strain.Children will sit in the front seats whenever they possibly can, and as a result they suffer from the glare and flicker. _ Often they have to sib in such a position that bhe screen is viewed from an angle. A careful parent should see that her child is not exposed to any of these risks. i Apart from the ill effects of had seating and lighting, and the unhealthiness of spending long hours in impure atmosphere, most children can only derive good from the cinema, provided that children’s films are chosen with a keen eye to their requirements. The ideal is not films “suitable for children,” but films “ specially for children ” —• selected by men and women who know; their job.