A local anti-smoking group has called for all films with smoking scenes to be given an 18 certificate in the UK to stop children being encouraged to light up.
The concerns were raised by Liverpool City Council who suggest that research has shown that young people are heavily influenced by the depiction of smoking in films and if imposed would stretch to Disney favourites.
Neil Rafferty, of pro-smoking group Forest said: “It’s an absolutely absurd idea to make a film with smoking an 18 but one that has extreme violence a 15” and I would have to agree.
Such a measure is not going to prevent youngsters from being subjected to smoking. Every time children step out onto the street they see rspected ‘grown-ups’ lighting up and many children have parents who smoke. Surely the influence of ‘real’ people is of more concern? Giving an 18 cert to a film with graphic sexual scenes seems reasonable as you do not see full blown intercourse on the streets, well maybe occasionally on a Saturday night but by this time those passive, impressionable young souls are tucked up in bed with a night light keeping away the boogie man!
Lets give the youth of Britain some credit. Suggestions of increasing the certificate on films which feature the cancer giving sticks is insulting to their intelligence! Children today are more aware of the risks of smoking than any other generation, they are taught about it in school from a very young age.
These are the same youngsters that we were considering lowering the vote to! So are we proposing that a 16 year old is mature and educated enough to make informed decisions about the running of a country yet they are too impressionable to tell the difference between fact and fiction?
Giving an 18 cert to films such as 101 Dalmatians is laughable! I severely doubt that any child has watched the popular animation and thought “wow, that Cruella De Vil looks cool puffing on that disease ridden fag” in the same way that I am highly certain that no child has ever watched the film and been endeared to kill and skin puppies! As Rafferty exclaims: “you need to get some perspective”.
Sarah Butt ©
Sources
Image courtesy of www.voanews.com
Movie Central 
Recent Comments