KBP Expands Broadcast Rules On Child Protection

Main News, News & Issues

The KBP has expanded its rules on broadcasts that affecting the interests of children. The new rules, which form part of the media industry association’s Broadcast Code which defines professional and ethical standards for its members, were approved in a general membership meeting held last June 15, 2011.

Formulation of the new guidelines was the KBP’s response to the clamor of audiences and child-rights advocates for stricter rules governing the treatment of children in television programs following the broadcast of a program last March featuring a boy in a dance sequence they found to be inappropriate for his age.

The most important of the new rules:

  1. The child’s dignity must be respected at all times. The child should not be demeaned or his/her innocence be exploited. (Art. 3, Sec. 1)
  2. The personal circumstance of the child that will tend to sensationalize his/her life must be avoided. (Art. 3, Sec. 2)
  3. There should be a conscious effort to avoid sensationalizing, stereotyping, prejudging, or exploiting children with disabilities or children belonging to minority or indigenous groups. (Art. 3, Sec. 3)
  4. The airing of programs that would help children to develop to their full physical, mental, and social potential as well as to attain psychological, emotional and spiritual maturity shall be encouraged. (Art. 11, Sec. 1)
  5. Children’s programs should promote values that would help children to become responsible citizens. Such values include respect for authority and law and order, good manners, love of God and country, a sense of duty, and the proper concept of courage. (Art. 11, Sec. 6)
  6. Advertisements of products or services or movie trailers which are not suitable for children or which might cause them physical, mental, psychological or moral harm shall not be aired in or adjacent to children’s programs. (Art. 11, Sec. 10)
  7. Children should not be made to perform acts, use language, or put on attire that are vulgar, obscene, indecent or inappropriate for children. (Art. 11, Sec. 11)
  8. Children should not be made to engage in hazardous activities or behavior. (Art. 11, Sec. 12)
  9. Public or audience participation programs shall not ridicule, diminish, or demean the dignity of individuals participating in such programs, especially if the participants are children. (Art, 17, Sec. 3)
  10. Programs in general should avoid sensationalizing, stereotyping, prejudging or exploiting children with disabilities or children belonging to minority or indigenous groups. (Art. 17, Sec. 5)