Page 115 - Words

Society Chung King Yung, Michael 4E (2016-2017)

The mainland's media watchdog, the State Administration of Press,
Publication, Radio, Film and Television has banned TV shows featuring
children in order to protect them from instant fame. Being a scholar
specializing in pop culture, I am very concerned about the new policy and
would like to share my opinion.

The first and main advantage of the new policy is that children are
protected from instant wealth and fame. For starters, not only will children
become famous by taking part in TV shows, they can also earn money.
Having a lot of fame and money at a young age is unhealthy for their
psychological development, since they will have corrupted values such as
thinking that money is too easy to earn. In addition, they are too young
to cope with the overwhelming pressure of being famous. The children’s
minds, and eventually their lives, will seriously be affected. Therefore, it
could be said that the mainland's media watchdog is doing a great job by
banning children from TV shows.

Not only will banning children from TV shows protect their
psychological health, it can also help increase the variety of TV shows
in China. TV shows (especally reality shows) featuring children is very
profitable in China. For example, the sponsorship fee of the show Dad!
Where Are We Going? rocketed from 28 million RMB in the first season to
500 million RMB in the third season. A lot of TV stations tend to produce
reality TV shows featuring children. Currently, too many of these shows are
broadcasted on TV, decreasing the variety of TV shows in China. However,
when reality TV shows featuring children are banned, TV stations will be
forced to provide more types of TV programmes for the audience.

With Pride, We Stride 115