No To BC!
The Broadcasting Commission (BC) in its quest to be the gatekeepers of Jamaican morality have gone ahead and issued a directive, which smacks of a poorly thought out decision on the part of the policy makers. The directives states that cable companies remove all A and X-rated channels from their general packages. This directive is in an effort I was told to protect our children.
Lest we forget, a few months ago the same BC kowtowed to pressure from a few prudes and banned daggerin’ songs and videos as well as Rampin’ Shop from our airwaves. And then, when the dancehall supporters came out en masse to protest and accuse the regulators of a class bias they banned soca. The end product of all this banning was that the prudes got their wish and the BC was made to look inept. In appeasing the prudes, the BC and the gatekeepers of morality just used a Panadol to treat a brain tumour. Because, whether we want to admit or not, Jamaica is not a moral society; it was never a moral society and will never be a moral society. So, I can bet the last $88.72 in my bank account at a wager of 100 to one that within the next three years another moral argument concerning dancehall will pop up and the BC and the gatekeepers will wax fervently about how our society has gone to the dogs.
But, I will say more on that when the time comes.
The BC by telling cable companies to stop offering A and X-rated channels as part of their general packages is like the Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) telling supermarkets to remove alcohol from their shelves because Christians and children will be tempted to purchase them.
While I believe that the BC must regulate and regulate well, it cannot be the ‘parents-in-chief’ for the country. For one, if I have children, I should not be taking ‘A’ and X-rated channels in the first place because children being how they are will find away to get around it.
Believe me, I can relate because of an incident I encountered a few years ago. A mother who had A rated channels placed a code on her box to prevent her 14-year-old son from watching them. But Junior being the astute youngster he was, tried all possible combinations from 000 to 9999 over a period of time. He eventually figured it out and proceeded to enjoy Cinemax’s After Dark programming. It was only after a surprise visit to the living room from mommy one night that she figured out that Junior, who muted the TV while he enjoyed the carnality, had breached her code. Junior’s act forced the mother to remove cable from her house. She only subscribed to the service when a cable company started offering packages minus A and X-rated channels. So Junior now has cable but no Cinemax, HBO or Showtime to enjoy at nights.
Also, if I live alone and I am paying for the package which includes my A and X-rated channels why must a cable company deprive me of my enjoyment. Clearly, I could get cheeky and file a complaint with the Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR) although it would be a waste of time. Better yet, I could file a complaint with the Fair Trading Commission (FTC). However, I would just be wasting time again because the cable companies could argue that I should just make a call and have the service restored.
But, the BC and the prudes will continue to regulate the airwaves to save our kids. And, for all their efforts, the kids are finding ways and means to watch porn. Just look on their cellphones and ask a bootleg DVD vendor if you don’t believe me.
So BC, those who you are seeking to protect don’t want protection.
By Idi Amin
Tags: adult channels, broadcasting commission, CAC, cellphones, children, dvd, FTC, music, OUR, pornography, programming, television, x-rated
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17 Responses to “No To BC!”
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my input is- if you block the channels they will find a way to watch it still, e.g. dvd. Parents must monitor their children, the story of junior is a perfect example, no matter how you prevent them from seeing it, they are going to find a way to do so. Talk to your children about it, even though the more they grow the more curious they get. As a matter of fact I dont have a problem with it.
Well, it appears that the BC is the national conscience at this moment. It also appears that their aim is to regulate what parents should be enforcing at home. I thought they were a policy driven commission but they might as well be renamed Parents Commission (PC.)
Young people will find pornography no matter what the Broadcasting Commission does. Those of us who grew up before the advent of Internet and video always had easy access to Penthouse, Hustler, Playboy etc. It is the parents’ job to monitor what their children watch and also to have frank and open discussions about sexuality.
Another Idi Amin who wants to contribute to the destruction of another society? lol
If Jamaica ‘was never a moral society’, then Amin can’t be part of the solution; he feels compelled to continue perpetuating the moral decay of his society? For shame.
The Chinese & Indians are hugely populated societies, in addition to being very old and mature cultures.
After such long life, such societies no doubt have come to know the value of not promoting promiscuity within their societies. For that is how societies that would be healthy and wise behave.
For those who are ignorant of healthy human behaviors, they may want to pay attention to old and mature cultures for guidance; and stay away from ‘hurry come up’ eurocentric pop cultures, which have been degrading societies around the world by colonizing them with social rubbish.
It is the ‘low life’/beastly individuals who make porn; because humans DO NOT mate in public?
The mindless beasts, who can’t help themselves, will mate publicly. And that is OK.
Now, what is the kind of mentality that would want to emulate the beastly, emulate the lower order behaviors?
Mating is so natural that even the beasts know how it is performed.
So there is absolutely no need for any society to promote things to do with mating. To do so, is to promote promiscuity, sex addiction and deadly diseases, make more undignified the mothers of the society, and mislead the children with behaviors that are totally age-inappropriate.
And name-calling people ‘prude’ (because they know to KEEP PRIVATE things that should be private) is not making a valid argument. The ‘strategy’ is part of a weak/untenable argument.
It’s about time some one brave enough to take this free for all nest of immoral viewing. It’s a bold step in the morality direction and it can work. Let them find other alternatives, they will think twice before spending money on sex DVDs it’s not worth it. The world needs a cleaning be it so small, it is good for the children and adults alike. They must now find a stunning relacement that is whole heartedly supported by the greater society of good people. Right on BC right on.
I agree with the BC. Blocking these channel may minimize sex among teenagers and STD.Having children and teenagers having access to these channels might be giving room to being disrespectful to parents and guardians. Being as everyone want to be like the Americans might as well use the americans rules and laws. I think the next move the BC or the government should make is to fined video store owners that sell or rent xrated DVDs to someone under the age of consent, and a person should present an identification card to buy any type of alcohol drinks or beverages and to also enter a night club. It is time for us to abide by laws and order, if we were living in the state we would have to follow the laws whether we like it or not. Why not do it in our own country.
While regulation is good, the BC should not overstep its boundary. Parents have a responsibilty to speak to their children frankly about sex so that although they will be curious about certain things they will not hide and view certain them. We all live in a democratic society and God himself gave us a choice whether we want to be good or bad. It is up to us to make an informed decision. The choice should not be taken from us.
Idi Amin your first name is missing 2 letters… O-T …
I went to Jamaica and saw minors with free access to porn. This is the Idiocy that Idi-ot wants to maintain. You need your own little hut somewhere on John Crow Mountain you pervert.
Many you have clearly missed the point. I am not contributing to the the moral decay of our society. Neither am I a pervert.
If you read my article carefully you would have seen that I said a parent should not have A and X-rated channels in the first place because teenagers and children will surely find a way to watch them because as long as the cellphone has a bluetooth the possibility exists that something pornographic would have been on the phone previously. The broadcasting commission can censor and ban all it wants but the fact is children do not consume porn from cable tv contrary to popular belief, there friends, the internet and DVDs are there to ensure they are kept up to date.
Also, many persons in this world think it is the State’s job to instill morals and fix immorality and amorality. While the state should seek to protect morality to a point, it should not be to the detriment of others.
Also, one respondent refers to people who make porn as mindless beasts. aren’t those who watch them more mindless beasts? And Chinese and Indian socieities were never moral either. Humans have never been moral if they were, you would not have nude statues and paintings in Europe, Asia and Africa. And by saying they are still not moral and I’m using the same ‘hurry come up’ European values which you condemn to judge them. If they were moral kama sutra and tantric sexual practices would never have been thought of and the much anathematized homosexuality has long been accepted albeit silently in these societies as well.
Additionally, if I were a pervert I would advocate porn to be shown on free-to-air tv in prime time. What I am saying is if the cable companies are offering the service and our archaic laws on the matter do not prevent them from doing so (believe me I am familiar with Jamaica’s broadcasting policy which lags behind Trinidad, Bahamas and Barbados) they should be allowed to display it. After all it is an additional cost. So, if you don’t want it, you should not pay for it!
Finally, for those who still believe Jamaica was once moral I urge you to visit the Institue of Jamaica or National Library or any good academic library and scroll through the accounts of both slaves and non-slave women and then you will see where I am coming from! And by the way, some of these pornographic acts did take place in public!
One of the problems I have with The Broadcasting Commission is that on the local channels the word ‘ass’ and other seemingly benign words are bleeped out, but we will see people being shot full of bullets and being stabbed multiple times, and that’s okay with them.
Parents do have responsibilities, but many parents work rotating shifts and are not at home when their children are there – nurses, doctors, police officers , security guards to name a few. The stae has a responsibilities to these workers and their children. Do not just wash your hands , we all have a responsibility to each other.
Hi Karen, I disagree with you that restricting teen access to porn will lessen sexual activity among teens.
As a teenager growing up I knew girls whose well-intentioned parents had sheltered them and when these girls got the opportunity to interact with boys, they went wild.
Our main focus should be on educating our young people on how to properly manage their sexuality.
T.G. That’s why as a parent you should not take A-rated and X-rated channels. Most cable companies have general package so take that package. If you take an A-rated or X-rated channel and your children become exposed to sex and violence do not blame the cable company or the government. Blame yourself. The broadcasting commission ought not to tell a cable company to remove advertising these channels from their brochures. They are not free. You have to pay extra if you want them. So, if I want them and have children I must brace myself for the worse. But, if I am careful and see myself as a good parent to avoid my child being exposed to porn in my house I will not take the channels.
Its like this everywhere in the world, someone is always to blame for what we can control or monitor. To say that the cable companies are at fault and that the government needs to step in and regulate, we may as well hand over our children to the government to take care of, because we have surely failed them if we cant guide them in the right direction. Sex is everywhere and in everything so no matter how much regulation or restrictions you place you wont get away from it. Its like ganja, has the government and the moral majority in all these decades been able to eradicate it completely? Lets even go a step further, no matter how violent people are towards homosexuals, still they exists and there is one born everyday. Bottom line is that all you can do is protect your child from porn but you will never be able to stop porn and you will never be able to stop your child from having access to porn 100% of the times, if not at home they will get it somewhere else, just ask all the boys and girls from strict homes that have lost their virginity before they reach 15 years old.
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