Nearly 1,000 complaints have been received by the UK government broadcast authority about Naked Education, a television programme that promotes “body positive” attitudes by exposing adolescents in their mid-teens to naked adults.
Channel 4, the UK’s state-owned but commercially funded broadcaster that has generally prided itself on producing edgy content as a counterpoint to the more mainstream BBC offering, has moved to defend its latest experiment, Naked Education, in which teenagers examine naked adults and discuss their bodies. The programme was described as “valuable public service broadcasting.”
Much of the outrage over the show appears to stem from differing perspectives on what is suitable for children under the age of consent to be exposed to on television.
Despite the content, the show is intended for youngsters and is shown before the ‘watershed’ — the Ofcom-defined period between nine o’clock at night and five o’clock in the morning when adult content can be broadcast.
After the first episode of the show aired, the UK broadcast regulator got an avalanche of complaints, with 930 relating to worries over nudity being displayed on television before the aforementioned watershed, and “aged 14-16” in the production being exposed to it.
The network retaliated against individuals who complained, indicating that they were attacking the show from a position of ignorance, stating via a senior spokeswoman that “anyone who suggests that Naked Education promotes paedophilia or is abusive of children almost certainly hasn’t watched it.”