Many times, the producer realizes midway that no amount of sincerity and good intentions can fuel the show through more than a season, television being a grossly business-oriented medium. Sponsors are hard to come by these days. Advertisers prefer to plunk in money in sure-fire programs following tested formulae. Sadly, children’s programming is assigned to the lower rungs of their budget.
Altruism is oftentimes overtaken by a nagging demand to stay afloat. Hence, many programs succumb to the temptation of commerce, their shows becoming nothing more but junior versions of adult programs replete with materialistic, sometimes, hedonist undertones.
Kids’ TV, an independent production airing Saturday afternoons on RPN is one such program which dispenses the kind of child entertainment that could be more harmful than it looks.
Just two sample episodes monitored by Anak TV reveal the intentions of Kids’ TV producers. Almost an entire episode was devoted to promote a mall. Sample these quotes from the featured child talents and guests. "Gusto ko every weekend, nasa mall ako." "Yayain ang buong pamilya dito (sa mall)" "Huwag nang pahuhuli, naghihintay na ang mall sa buong pamilya."
As if that were not enough, the show’s unimaginative writers push their adult and commercially slanted intentions on the poor child stars. One segment featured a child interviewing the marketing officer of the mall, asking questions even a child Einstein would not be able to think up: "What is the edge of this mall over others?"
Obviously, the writers and producers of Kids’ TV are not in touch with the child in them that they will not think twice about merging commercialism and child affairs in a program purportedly for, about and presumably by children. Obviously too, there is not a child psychologist in their group or even one who desires to understand the child.
What takes the cake in one episode was the message of child star Yuuki’s mother who, in a videotaped message for her birthday boy, casually said: "Good luck sa iyo anak at sana tuloy tuloy na ang iyong career!" We were floored by the remark, seeing that the boy was not even seven! A classic case of child abuse and the mother does not even recognize it.
Janeene, another talent whose make-up and attire defies, rather than defines, her true age, rightfully belongs to SOP Gigster or ASAP Fanatics. In a one-sided blouse, dangling earrings and evening make-up fit for Flores de Mayo, the girl looked so unnatural and pathetic, hopelessly out of place.
To verify the observations made during one run, we monitored another episode. Horror of horrors! More of the same crap. This time, they were peddling, not featuring, a Japanese restaurant.
If one trimmed all the footages from the show that pushed anything commercial, we would be left with a four minute program, the long boring narrative about Orihime and Hikoboshi included. Boring because the video inserts like guests eating in the restaurant, had absolutely nothing to do with the folktale. It is bad enough that a Pinoy story was not used. And as feared, the segment ended with "So mga kids, kumain na dito sa restaurant na ito."
The people behind Kids’ TV should be reminded about the first principle of the Charter of Children’s Television, signed by the Philippines, among other signatory countries. It says: "Children should have programs which do not exploit them."
A salient item in the Convention on the Rights of the Child is also worth heeding: "Children have the right to be protected from economic exploitation."
