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A WOMAN COMPLAINED to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland after TV3 showed a condom being put on a model of a penis.
The BAI rejected the complaint concerning an episode of Ireland AM, which is broadcast every weekday from 7am to 10am.
The complainant said that she objected to a part of the programme on 11 February this year at 7.45am, which showed a model of an erect penis having a condom put onto it.
She believed that “this type of material is completely inappropriate on a programme that many households have on in the morning, before children go to school”.
The complainant stated there may have been warnings before the item, but she changed channel to TV3 and none was evident to her.
She was “extremely disappointed” and felt that the content was not suitable for her family.
TV3′s response
TV3 said that this feature was “not taken lightly” and that there were three separate on-air warnings “to give parents time to ensure children should not watch the segment”.
It said that the resident doctor felt that they should demonstrate how to use protection appropriately, and that TV3 “received positive feedback regarding how responsible they were in the approach”.
It also strongly denied that the piece featured detailed scenes of a sexual nature, or nudity.
It was a medical and educational model of the male reproductive organ and whilst the topic was in relation to contraception, it was not a conversation in relation to sex.
BAI rejects complaint
The BAI forum decided to reject the complaint. It said that it considered “whether the model of the erect penis which was displayed during a segment on sexual health was likely to cause harm and offence in the manner suggested by the complainant”.
In this context, the Forum had regard to the broadcaster’s responsibility in relation to the time of broadcast, the audience expectation, the programme type and the broadcaster’s use of prior warnings about the programme content.
It was of the opinion that “due care” was exercised by TV3, and noted that the station has a mainly adult audience. It also noted the warnings.
The BAI forum said that the programme was aimed at adults and not scheduled either side of a children’s programme, and was part of an informative piece on contraception.
The Forum did acknowledge that the time of broadcast meant that some children could view the programme and that some viewers may have found it inappropriate but noted that there was nothing in the programme likely to cause undue offence or to cause harm.
It was the view of the forum that the content was factual and informative, and “did not constitute sexual content”.
Other rejected complaints
The BAI also rejected a complaint about an interview with Ben Judah, author of the book Fragile Empire: How Russia fell in and out of love with Vladimir Putin, on the Pat Kenny Show on Newstalk.
The complainant said that the 2 March interview amounted to “Russophobia” and “Russia-bashing”.
The complaint was rejected, with the committee finding that “while the guest was critical of the Russian State in terms of the manner in which it operates as a functioning democracy, it is editorially legitimate to examine a news and current affairs topic from a particular angle”.
A complaint about RTÉ’s Sunday with Miriam show on 1 February and its coverage of adoption was also rejected.
It’s completely inappropriate behaviour to allow your kids to watch TV before going to school
Genuine belly-laughs. Thanks Shelly!
Or listen to the radio or read a newspaper article !
The kids should be getting ready for school anyway not watching TV at that time in the morning. What kids want to watch Ireland AM anyway ?!
I hope that no kids are reading the journal right now. Or later.
What is the difference between a condom and a coffin❓
You come in one and you go in the other.
what adult in their right mind would watch that trash,give me peppa pig any morning
You know what else is ‘completely inappropriate’ forcing people to go through with an unwanted teenage pregnancy or contract a venereal disease because your religious family is so embarrassed, uptight and repressed about sex…
John Oliver recently did a bit about the state of sex ed in the US – well worth a watch.
the bananas in for some fun,if it ever finds a pear
Well we never got sex ed in school, and Ireland has always been a country where it wasn’t talked about, there will always be a complaint from somewhere regarding this kind of thing, I think it’s great they showed it, it’s apart of human life and we need less teen pregnancies
well in fairness we’ve a far lower rate of teen pregnancy, it’s not as widespread as you think.
Besides, putting a condom on a flaccid penis would be inappropriate, not sure who the segment was aimed at though.
You never got sex-ed in school?
That’s weird. Normally you get sex-ed once in primary and two to three times in secondary.
I had in friend in college who was about fifteen years older than I am, and he told me that his sex-ed teacher told the class that sodomy would result in instant death. No joke. I guess it was when AIDS was a very prominent worry in the collective consciousness, and they probably didn’t know how to address it properly, especially to kids, but that’s just crappy teaching.
Just change the freaking channel!
It would be some craic to handle those complaints for a couple of weeks.
Dear ____
Thank you for your recent correspondence re: this week’s broadcast.
We suggest that you go f**k yourself.
Regards,
B. Diccus
But please, be sure to use a condom as you do so.
Will someone please think of the children !!!
down with that sort of thing
careful now
Was there any nudey bits in it …..
Where else are we supposed to learn it, the same way we learned everything else….the schoolyard. Banana model may have been more appealing though
Banana-Appealing, I see what you done there
I missed that the first time, Craig. Looks like I slipped up.
Her family consists of another 8 nuns in the monastery, chill out sister
Sounds like her dad should have used one!
Would they not watch cartoons like normal children? Does she also play them Mozart as they fall asleep?
Did we somehow go back to 91.
Was the “model of erect penis” a statuette of Enda Kenny?
Well I bet she’s a big old Catholic
I didn’t see the programme but I wonder did it also for balance point out that the best method of contraception is abstention.
you’re a barrel of laughs!
ffs,no it didn’t.
Better again, mutilate your genitals so they no longer function- idiot.
Didn’t work for Holy Mary…
Mammy whatsss that… It’s to make ice lollies with…?
Believe it or not, my 10-year old is a father. When I asked him if he had seen the piece on TV3 he responded negatively, but added that it might actually have been beneficial.
Tallaght TV at its best !!!!
Did nobody think first
Tired and dated show
Utter tripe! if u Don’t know how to put one of these things on without help. u should remain the virgin that u are and save the world the heartache.
burn rubber hunny that’s what I say
I think anyone watching TV at that time knows how to put a condom on, don’t you?
Unless they haven’t gone to bed yet lol.
#Goshh
What the hell? The program is watch mostly by adults, are adults that stupid that they don’t know how to put a condom on? If it was aimed at teenagers, up to say 18, they they too were probably getting ready for school. Funny how everyone thinks that at time of the morning non-teenage children are the only ones getting ready for school, your wrong. If teaching teenagers about safe sex is important, than teach it in school or at home. Also, condoms should be readily available in schools, and easily accessed without fear of embarrassment.
Least they’ll be in the know in how to put it on. If they’re choosing to have sex surely it’s better to be safe than sorry. I’m not condoning underage sex but like if they’re gonna do it at easy they can be safe. I wonder would this person complain about secondary schools teaching about sex education?!
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