Age Ratings

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Tue, 2001-12-18 10:53

Age Ratings

Does abctales have guidelines for editors to stick to when giving an age rating to material? It seems to me not. Some of my stuff seems to have been given a rating completely out of synch. with the criteria set out by the official film ratings board (www.bbfc.co.uk). These seven considerations are theme, language, nudity, sex, violence, imitable techniques, horror and drugs.

Theme - only extreme themes such as drug abuse and peadophilia warrant an 18 rating. Most themes can at max warrant a 12.
Language "Many people are offended, some of them deeply by blah blah..., it is impossible to set out compre-hensive lists of acceptable words or expressions which will satisfy all sections of the public. The advice at different classification levels, therefore, provides general guidance with reference to specific terms only where there is a reasonable consensus of opinion. However looking at the way in which western films are classified, many a 15 film contains sexual expletives yet when I put one in my writing, it gets an 18? Why?

Drug abuse cannot be promoted or encouraged up to a fifteen rating, fifteen ratings cannot give explicit details of how to take drugs. It seems apparent to me that some of my drug related pieces should have received a 15 rather than an 18.

The most ridiculous yet is the application of PG certs to completely innocuous offerings I've posted on the site of late. I just don't understand.

If the rating system is to be taken seriously some homogenous guidelines need to be introduced so the ratings aren't based on the preconceptions of the particular editor.

jude

Tue, 2001-12-18 13:28

andrew pack

I don't give a lot of 'U's I have to say, unless the piece is squarely aimed at children. The classifications are to protect people using our sites. Not just the readers, but the writers as well. Anything less than a twelve rating implicitly means that people under 12 can read it. A U probably means under 8s. Do you write many pieces aimed at under-eights ? Ones that aren't obviously written for children ? I don't think many of us here do. Fifteen/eighteen is always a grey area and it is a question of judgment. We probably rate a hundred pieces a week on the swear filter - not all of those break neatly into the categories, most are on the margins - is it 12/15 15/18 ? I don't think it is as simplistic as transplanting the film guidelines. Sure, a film can be a fifteen and contain a sexual expletive, but a film lasts 90 minutes. Someone can read a poem in a minute or two. Most users of the site are registered as over 18 anyway, so it has little impact on the potential reads - what it does do is make sure that nobody goes running off to the Daily Mail protesting at what abc is allowing their children to read. Or, having a go at the writer. I'm sorry if this reads as being a bit crabby. In the usual way, if someone really disagrees with their rating, I will look at it again. But I suggest you look again and see if your perfectly innocuous pieces would really be of interest to/ suitable for under 8s.

Tue, 2001-12-18 15:18

andrew pack

Judith - re-reading the above posting, I think it is a bit crabby. Let's just say - it isn't an exact science, I have to do about twenty a day, and I err on the side of caution. Once again, if someone really does feel that I've got it wrong, I will take another look. It did make me wonder if I could name a book that wasn't directly aimed at children that could be classified as a 'U'. The closest I've got is Watership Down, but there are some really disturbing sequences in that (the snare, General Woundwort, Hazel in the drainpipe), so even that won't get a 'U'. Maybe Huckleberry Finn, but it is arguable about whether that is also intended for children, though agreeable to adults.

Tue, 2001-12-18 16:16

Judith

Hi Andrew There is a seperate classification in films (I know its not directly comparable) called Uc which means suitable for all but especially for children. Huck Finn gives accounts of "floggings" which whilst acceptable back then would be tantamount to child abuse these days! I appreciate you editors have tonnes of work to rate but wouldn't it be easier if you had guidelines? j

Tue, 2001-12-18 16:21

Gary Nicklin

I found myself wondering how the ratings were decided myself after I submitted my piece called All Fall Down. As it was a fairly long story (about 8,500 words) I split it into two parts. I submitted both with a rating of 15, as the theme was fairly adult, plus there was some strong language in the first part. It was picked up by the language filter and I was surprised to see that part one was changed to a PG, despite the existance of the F-word in it, while the second part, which I considered to be less offensive was left at 15. I have submitted a story with a U rating (Plain Princess, which was selected as todays story of the day - thanks) which was never written with children in mind, although it seems to be enjoyed by both children and adults. Gaz.

Tue, 2001-12-18 18:03

Philip Craggs

I submitted a story to this site which i thought was a 'U' since it contained no violence, swearing or sex. It was adapted to a '12' rating by the moderators, but when i questioned this it was reverted back to a 'U'. It isn't a children's story but there is no reason why children shouldn't read it even though i wrote it for adults.

Tue, 2001-12-18 19:03

andrew pack

Gary - I can only speak for myself, if there is an F word in a long piece, I will probably give it the benefit of the doubt, but one in a short poem probably consigns it to a 15 or 18. Today's piece from you, I thought addressed issues of interest to anyone who writes or reads and in a way that worked for adults and children. The C word always gets an 18 from me. Someone injecting needles always gets an 18, someone smoking dope gets at least a 15. Someone making love can get a 12 or 15 or 18, depending on how it is handled - someone making love with violent overtones gets an 18. Any piece with someone cutting themselves gets an 18. I dare say there's an argument that 15 year old girls do it and should be able to read about it and maybe learn the facts, but I'd rather not feel responsible for anyone starting down that road. Appreciate what you say Judith, but if I sat down with a checklist and applied it to each piece, they'd all be stuck on the swear spike much longer. I probably go 18 too often when it is borderline 15 - if it were 16 and 18 I would probably plump for 16. Think of it the way an editor would - if you send a piece with adult themes and strong language to a children's publisher, you'll get nowhere. If you want to write PG or U stuff, you have to bear that in mind more. There really is nothing wrong with writing for adults - for every reader who can't read a piece rated 12, there are plenty more who wouldn't read a U.

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