Children’s Career Aspirations - an exchange with CBBC

Dear BBC,

I would like to complain about the contribution CBBC appears to be playing in creating unrealistic aspirations in its young viewers.

As you may have heard, a recent study has detected a marked shift in the career aspirations of British Children over the past 25 years. According to the Daily Telegraph, “Twenty five years ago, youngsters wanted to become teachers, bankers or doctors. But pre-teens today are hoping to find fame through sport, pop music or acting”….”And what they watch on TV is now rivalling their parents as the biggest influence on children's choice of careers”….”Becoming a sports star like footballer Wayne Rooney is the top ambition of today's pre-teens the dream of 12 per cent” or “following in the footsteps of X Factor winner Leona Lewis and making it big as a pop star.” http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/6250626/Children-would-rather-become-popstars-than-teachers-or-lawyers.html

Now look at a selection from last Saturday’s CBBC schedule, much of which I sat through with my step daughter. (The listings and comments are taken from the Guardian website)

07:40 MOTD Kickabout
Football show featuring stars from the worlds of sport and entertainment
08:30 The Slammer
Four imprisoned entertainers perform for their freedom,
10:00 School For Stars
[speaks for itself]
10:30 The Big Performance
Choirmaster Gareth Malone coaches a group of 10 shy children to perform in public, before they face the challenge of singing for an audience of 40,000 at the London Proms in the Park
11:55 Newsround
Current affairs reports aimed at a younger audience [that is, current affairs heavily weighted towards sport and celebrity]
13:30 Dani's House
Comedy show about the misadventures of a highly strung 17-year-old actress……………

Is it not fair to say such a schedule fuels this worrying trend in childrens aspirations? Isn’t it time CBBC set a good example, and moved away from celebrity culture?

Thank you for your consideration. I await your reply.

Best wishes,

Martin Johnson
Brighton

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Dear Mr Johnson
Reference CAS-1061839-S78PDQ
Thanks for contacting us about CBBC.
I understand that you feel programme such as ‘Newsround’ and ‘Dani’s House’ encourage children to want to become pop stars or footballers instead of doctors and teachers. I note that you feel this is the wrong example to be setting for children and you think we need to move away from celebrity culture.
We set out to provide children with a wide variety of programmes in order to cater for their different ages, tastes and needs. We believe we are constantly in the forefront of children's programming, and offer the widest range of imaginative and informative programmes but we do appreciate that not every programme will appeal to every child.
Over the years there has been a substantial change in the style and presentation of children's programmes. However, such changes tend to be a reflection of changes in society. The BBC must remain in touch with its audience and responsive to its needs.
Please be assured the programme makers take their responsibility to our young audience very seriously. Indeed, every effort is made to meet the expectations of parents and children in our audience during this programme and all content is subject to our strict set of Editorial Guidelines.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/
Nevertheless I do appreciate that you feel our programme promote celebrity culture therefore please be assured that I’ve registered your complaint on our audience log. This is a daily report of audience feedback that’s made available to many BBC staff, including members of the BBC Executive Board, channel controllers and other senior managers.
The audience logs are seen as important documents that can help shape decisions about future programming and content.
Thanks once again for taking the time to contact us.
Kind Regards
Claire Jordan
BBC Complaints

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Dear Claire Jordan,

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I’m not sure why you chose to highlight ‘Newsround’ and ‘Dani’s House’ – my case is hardly weakened by ‘School For Stars’ or ‘The Big Performance’. These four programs alone constitute over 90 minutes of fame obsessing in one morning schedule. You suggest that there is “a wide variety of programmes” catering to “different ages, tastes and needs”. Can you please send me an example? Where is a program that celebrates any plausible or socially useful role such as doctor or teacher or refuse collector? Where is the truly aspirational scientist, rather than the stereotypical nerd scientist of ‘Dani’s House?’

You also suggest that the “BBC must remain in touch with its audience and responsive to its needs.” But surely there is more to children’s needs than their immediate desires, particularly when those desires are fostered by a celebrity obsessed media. Rather than the need to cry at auditions, or the need to cling to an illusion of fame, what about the need to contribute to a humane society?

No doubt CBBC could serve the immediate desires of many teenagers if it racked-up the sex and violence – just like the evening programming – but quite rightly this would be considered detrimental to the outlook of children. As there is now also compelling evidence to suggest that the media is having a negative effect on the career aspirations of children isn’t it time to put celebrity in the same box? Isn’t it the duty of the state broadcaster to buck the celebrity trend, rather than foster and exploit it?

I’d rather not be added to an ‘audience log’, I’d rather my concerns were addressed.

Best wishes and waiting to hear.

Martin Johnson,
Brighton

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Dear Mr Johnson

Reference CAS-1083455-1YBSTM

You complaint has been forwarded to me as the Controller of CBBC.

I’m afraid that I can’t agree with the assertion that CBBC is ‘Celebrity Obsessed’.

We cover a wide range of programming on CBBC and the values that underpin our content include empowering and inspiring children; helping them make sense of the world around them; providing them with positive role models; introducing them to worlds and individuals they may otherwise not experience, and crucially providing them with moments when they can just laugh out loud and be silly.

I take a different view on the shows you mention and do not believe they are focused on ‘fame obsessing’ - on the contrary the values I mention above are evident in many of them.

In The Big Performance choirmaster extraordinaire Gareth Malone takes ten shy children who love to sing but are terrified of performing in public due to the fact that were bullied in the past. He takes them on a journey to restore their fragile confidence and to finally perform in front of the nation on Children In Need night linking up with other children’s choirs across the UK. I’m extremely proud of this show and believe it will have inspired and empowered many children watching at home.

In School for Stars the message is that it takes real motivation, commitment and sheer hard work to succeed in any field. The programme-makers skilfully explain the importance of attainment in both the academic and performance fields and provide an antidote to the idea that success is achievable by just desiring it.

Newsround will continue to cover sports and entertainment in addition to news stories that matter to children and I believe we get that balance right. Over the last year we’ve travelled the globe to help our audience understand the big news stories - we have been to Kabul to explain what it’s like to be a child growing up in a warzone; provided context to the earthquake in Japan; looked at the impact of the drought in Africa. On the domestic front we provided extensive analysis of the summer riots; the problems in the Eurozone; the newspaper-hacking scandal. Our award winning specials have covered subjects as diverse as autism, cancer and how young people’s lives are affected by their parents’ relationship with alcohol.

You asked for examples of shows that ‘celebrate a plausible or socially useful role’ - there are many but I have listed just a few examples below:

Steve Backshall inspiring the next generation of wildlife experts and adventurers in Deadly 60 and Live ‘N Deadly.

Helen Skelton from Blue Peter undertaking immense physical and mental challenges and living up to her mantra ‘impossible is just a word’.

Horrible Histories engaging children with the themes and narratives of history and encouraging them to find out more for themselves.

Richard Hammond passionately bringing science to life in ‘Blast Lab’.

Dick and Dom exploring the work of wildlife rescue centres and vets in Dick and Dom Go Wild.

Six children training with the Metropolitan Police to see what it takes to be a policeman in Cop School.

Coming up we have a number of new series including ‘We Could Be Heroes’ where we follow children training with the emergency and rescue services. We also plan to shine a light on the subjects of biology and medicine in a new series fronted by two very exciting young doctors.

I hope my reply addresses your concerns and if you want I’m very happy to continue this conversation with you on the telephone.

Best wishes,
Damian Kavanagh
Controller CBBC.