Keeping our young safe
Dylan Howell, 16, a member of the Classification Office’s Youth Advisory Panel, gives his view on proposals to require commercial video on demand services to provide NZ classifications on their content.
As a young person I get to watch whatever I want, whenever I want.
But that doesn’t mean I want to see anything that will really upset me or whoever I am watching with.
We can access vast amounts of content on our phones or devices.
I and young people I know believe it is increasingly important to be aware of what’s out there. We need to keep ourselves informed and safe, and classification labels can help us.
Our current classification law was made in 1993 and sets out how age restrictions work.
It’s obvious why we have them, we wouldn’t want any 6-year-old watching John Wick or Deadpool, because the graphic violence would be extremely inappropriate for a little kid.
But there are problems around online distributors/ streaming services not being required to provide an age rating and classification information on their content.
The Classification Office’s Youth Advisory Panel was asked for our views on whether there was a need for online providers to label and restrict their content.
We talked about the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why and its graphic suicide and other impactful content. The panel members think mental health and suicide are extremely important and we want to see information about that in warnings.
When school life or realistic situations are shown, content can be harder-hitting.
We talked about how shows like Game of Thrones are less problematic because they’re set in a fantasy world.
It’s harder when sensitive ideas are portrayed in a semi-realistic way.
On streaming services I often notice a lack of emphasis on the rating any kind of media has.
It’s no harder to watch something vulgar like Jonah from Tonga than it is to pop on some Spongebob Squarepants.
Unless the person’s on a kid’s account, there is no superobvious indication of the inappropriate content within a film or TV show.
I believe it’s really important, especially for parents who care enough to monitor what their children are watching.
I know some are perfectly happy to let their kids watch extreme violence, but people like my mother are especially keen to make sure young people are not exposed to harmful media.
So given some streaming services are not obliged to accurately or noticeably display the classification of what they’re distributing, I think a change needs to be made.
In particular, I believe paid streaming websites should be obligated to conform and display the New Zealand classifications, especially if they’re making money from charging people in our country.
It doesn’t make sense for online content to have different classification laws to theatrical releases. If my little sister isn’t allowed to watch John Wick: Parabellum in theatres, why is there nothing preventing her from clicking on it when she uses Netflix, or HBO, or Neon, or Hulu?
Multitudes of online streaming services don’t provide any security or disclosure about some of the potentially child-harming content that they earn money to distribute.
Which is unfair when you consider that cinemas have to bar the entry of children to films that are age-restricted. What makes online viewing different when considering the safety of our youth?
When school life or realistic situations are shown, content can be harderhitting.