Monitor TV commercials, films to protect children - Susil Premajayantha

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Education Ministry is paying special attention on the telecast of TV commercials which pollute the minds of the younger generation in the country.

According to a recent survey, nearly 50,000 advertisements are telecast annually on all Sri Lankan TV channels and over 40 percent of them are unsuitable for children and adults.

"Many of these advertisements show the images of violence, corruption, large scale robberies and also sexuality,"Education Minister Susil Premajayantha told the Sunday Observer that a Regulatory Body to monitor all TV commercial advertisements should be instituted forthwith for the sake of the younger generation.He said that some schoolchildren watched TV films and tele-dramas until late at night and most of these films and commercial advertisements that were telecast at this time cannot be watched by parents and children together."It is also the duty of parents to prevent children watching TV shows until late at night since it also disrupts their educational activities,"

Minister Premajayantha said that the owners of TV companies should consider this matter and take measures to stop telecasting unsuitable TV commercials and films that could easily ruin the lifestyle of the younger generation, especially schoolchildren.

He said that many foreign countries such as Sweden, Denmark, Norway and other European countries have adopted strict guidelines on TV commercial advertisements that affect children adversely."It is time to have a regulatory body in our country to monitor TV commercials before they are telecast,"

The Minister said President Mahinda Rajapaksa had shown special concern about certain local TV advertisements and its impact on children.