Thaindian News

Beijing, Feb 25 (IANS) A majority of people in China are concerned over certain TV programmes that could negatively affect or mislead teenagers, says a survey.

The online survey — conducted among 1,210 people by the China Youth Daily Social Investigation Center — showed that 60 percent of the participants believed that TV dramas have negative effects on teenagers.

Only four percent of respondents said the dramas had positive effects, China Daily reported.

Song Jun, a senior middle school student in eastern Jiangsu province, said she has many classmates who were addicted to TV dramas.

“Some of my female classmates dream every day of marrying a guy as handsome as the TV stars and dressing like the girls in the dramas,” Song said.

She said some of them have even developed eating disorders in hopes of achieving extreme weight loss.

The survey found that respondents believed that puppy love, material worship and unrealistic fantasies were the three worst effects, followed by laziness, irresponsibility, eroticism, violence and drug use.

Sun Hongyan, a researcher with the China Youth and Children Research Center, said teenagers were easily attracted to TV dramas for the unrealistic fantasies they depict, including extravagant food, beautiful clothes and easy lives with no responsibilities.

Liang Ming, a well-known director and professor with Communication University of China, said there were no regulations restricting such “unhealthy dramas” from entering the current TV industry.