Professor of Child Psychiatry wonders if art is harmful

"If you meet an angry man in the street, and he punches another, this is condemned without a doubt. Another question is whether we are allowed to express ourselves, for example, by creating art that is harmful," asks Tuula Tamminen, a Professor of Child Psychiatry at University of Tampere.

Professor Tuula Tamminen is concerned of the influence violent films have on children. Still, she does not wish to bash films and says she does watch a lot them.

In addition to her own day-job, she has worked for several years in the Appeal Board of the Finnish Board of Film Classification. The board handles mainly appeals that concern the age limits for films. Each audiovisual program that is exhibitioned in public in Finland has to go through the classification process. In the process films are classified based on law, in order to protect children from the material that is considered to be harmful to their development.

As a professor of child psychiatry Tamminen has seen the damages that watching films can cause to children.

"Studies have shown that violence in films causes reactions in all children. There are two major trends in the case of especially sensitive children: they either express anxiety and fear or they become aggressive and restless. The more stressed the child is, the more permanent the effects will be."

If the child is not vulnerable, he or she will come around in some time. He or she might still see nightmares or be nervous and bad-tempered.

"The extensive studies that were done on groups of children in the 1970s showed, that if children watched a lot of violence, they were also aggressive as adults," Tamminen says.

Killers as mass consumers of violence

There has been a long discussion on the effects of films have on people, and Tamminen says that there is still not enough research.

"Anyhow, the case studies done in the USA and Great Britain have shown that, for example, there is one thing common for all of these so called school killers: they are mass consumers of violence."

In addition to violence, sexual and horrific content are also seen as harmful to children. It has been discovered that the earlier they see sex, the earlier they will start behave sexually.

"I see this as a risk, because then the child's immature body becomes exposed to diseases, unwanted pregnancies and child abuse", Tamminen says.

Adults can make a difference

The Finnish Board of Film Classification defines the age limits for films, but it is difficult to control them. Many adults do not respect the age limits but instead think that they have been invented by some strict moralists.

"In my opinion Finland is a modern, democratic country, where things are based on facts. The given age limits should be followed and in this is where adults can make a difference."

Tamminen would like to see more co-operation between all people working with children. Parents, teachers and hobby club leaders can use their own examples and opinions to protect the child.

"For example, if a teacher prohibits the child from watching a certain movie and gives a good reason for his or her opinion, then it will protect the child, even if he or she will see the film. The child can then criticise what he or she has seen in a new way."

"In the future filmmakers, producers, distributors, and the people in charge of program policy and marketing are forced to follow some other guidelines instead of just market economy. If we pay attention only to the economic interest, it is the safest way to lower our standard of living and productivity," Tamminen says.

It is important to teach children to watch films critically.

"I hope that teachers and parents discuss the films they have seen with their children. When parents say out loud what they have seen, they will themselves realise how horrible things films can depict."

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