[EDITORIALS]Film filth and our youth

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[EDITORIALS]Film filth and our youth

Published: 15 Nov. 2005, 22:16

The administration and the ruling party stepped back a bit from their plan to regulate movies depicting school violence in the face of public criticism against such a move. The administration and the party said they would not try to change the law on movies immediately, but that they would look for other measures to prevent children from being exposed to such films.
Recently, a high school student in Chungju, North Chungcheong province, committed suicide after being bullied by her classmates. But the idea of regulating movies to prevent school violence invites opposition for reasons of freedom of expression and adverse effects on the film industry.
Still, we believe that movies that can give impressionable teenagers the idea that violence is acceptable should be controlled in some way. Movies with excessive violence and foul language do influence young minds and the result is the present violence- and obscenity-prone generation.
Many parents would welcome controls over such movies, but a better answer lies in better self-regulation by the film industry, whose decision-makers should ask if they are making films they want their children to see.