Focus: A Film Review (1950-1951)

264 No. 2 — A Positive Approach to the Cinema THE TEACHER and the CINEMA By Margaret Anderson Responsibility and Education More than half the children of school age in Great Britain go to the cinema at least once a week. In the previous article in this series, it was pointed out that the ultimate responsibility for any ill-effects which may result rests on the parents who allow this to happen ; there is also, however, a duty regarding the cinema which falls more and more upon the teacher in loco parentis. This is an age which realises that children are more than minds to be instructed in the three R’s and that education embraces the spiritual, mental and physical health of the child as well as his intellectual achievement. The care of the whole child has brought new duties to the teacher ; his work is to prepare that child to become a full member of the community and to live his life as completely as possible. Of that life, for the majority of people, the cinema is one of the most constant factors. As an aid to teaching in the classroom, the film is extremely valuable ; its power outside has to be appreciated. The Russians early recognised the importance of film as a medium for propaganda. The use of both sight and hearing means that there is less strain on each sense, and conscious effort is reduced. This easy assimilation can produce a passive state of mind where thought is unnecessary, and one in which the subject is readily influenced. Children with their unformed minds and greater susceptibilities are even more easily impressed. Two years ago a light engine and a goods train were derailed by boys who had seen a train derailment “on the pictures”. Young children are not able to distinguish between truth and fiction on the screen; it is all real to them and becomes part of the phantasy world in which they live. What they see is too often violent or horrifying. Physical Effect on Children In the Report of the Departmental Committee on Children and the Cinema, there is a complaint of the lack of direct evidence of the ill-effects of frequent visits to the cinema ; but teachers know of the lethargy and inattention that is alwaj-s apparent in cinema habitues, particularly those who go during the evening and then come to school with dull eyes. I know of intelligent children who have become slow because their mental and physical energy has been sapped by late nights and over-stimulation of their emotions at the cinema. Physically, the Saturday Club is an obvious improvement, but unfortunately so much of the material presented is unsuitable and defeats to some degree the purpose of what is taught in school. False standards are shown which temper the mind of a child over a long period and condition it to false values, as the Hon. Mrs. Bower points out in her Memorandum to the Report. If parents are not going to apply sanctions (and to many it is a convenience that children are out of the way, no matter what they are seeing) then it is for teachers to tackle the trouble. What the Teacher Needs to do The misuse of the cinema is all the more deplorable because of its potentiality for good. In an ideal State the Children’s Cinemas would be run on a non-commercial basis by voluntary local committees, showing films specially made for the purpose, providing all that children enjoy and what they might be encouraged to enjoy. We can hope, at least, for legislation whereby all films to which children are admitted, whether accompanied or not, would have to be passed by a panel of parents and teachers. Difficulties in procuring this can be overcome if there