Imagine a cartoon replete with such foul language it's actually an education for those of us with the filthiest of mouths, a cartoon which depicts Jesus in kung-fu battle with Santa Claus, one in which a little boy is microwaved to death, cut in half with a chainsaw and has his eyes pecked out by mutant turkeys. First seen on US television screens in the summer of 1998, South Park does all this and more - and it's currently available on a TV set near you. A show which practically wallows in every conceivable taboo, it confronts such "moral dilemmas" as: Should children help their grandparents commit suicide? Should you send starving Ethiopian children back home?
Is this the kind of thing primary-school children should be watching? Well, they are. Despite the fact that it's on after the 9 p.m. watershed, children all over the country are big fans. Much of the humour and "moral debate" obviously goes right over young heads, but does the behaviour and graphic language have an impact?
At least one school in Britain has said yes, it certainly does.
Earlier this month parents at Sowerby County Primary School in Yorkshire received a letter from the principal asking them to stop their children watching the show, following an increase in swearing and bad behaviour in the playground. According to the principal, Glyn Hopper, the children themselves raised the issue at a school council meeting where they expressed frustration over how copycat behaviour was ruining their fun in the school yard.
"One of the things they brought up was the amount of bad language and deliberate spoiling of games that was going on in the playground," Hopper said. "A lot of children thought it was cool to do that because of South Park - and when I asked pupils what they watched, 90 children admitted to watching the programme."
The programme-makers themselves insist it is a cartoon made for adults. It's strange so, as clincal psychologist Mark Harrold points out, "that the merchandising which accompanies the cartoon is aimed at children.
"When I was in the States earlier this year there were dolls and flasks and lunchboxes. I don't think this is the sort of thing adults go out and buy for themselves.
"As with so many of the more recent cartoons, South Park is more or less a commercial for the accompanying merchandise. Clearly children are watching, and, most cynically, being targeted as a market."
So what to do? "Parents should sit down and have a look at the cartoon, and make their own decision about whether or not they think their children should be watching," advises Fionnuala Kilfeather, national co-ordinator with the National Parents Council (Primary). "Some primary-school children here do watch South Park, though the research on how cartoon violence affects children's behaviour doesn't seem to be conclusive.
"Whether or not it does, South Park just isn't a children's programme. It is on very late and if parents think it is unsuitable, then they don't have to feel pressurised to let their children watch it."
Concern about the adult nature of programmes children watch is nothing new. The stories and language on Neighbours, even The Simpsons, have raised a few eyebrows on occasion. Depending on the programme and the issue, "watching television with children can be an opportunity to talk about what's on, and in that way, start in on some media education", says Kilfeather. "But obviously this has to be age-appropriate."
Parents should also take their individual child into consideration when making television viewing decisions: one kid's barrel of laughs is another kid's week full of nightmares.
"Very young children shouldn't sit there in front of the television as if it were a babysitter," Kilfeather warns. "There are programmes on all the time which are not suitable, and even with older children, television shouldn't be left on as a backdrop in the sitting room all day. "It's important parents take responsibility and choose programmes for their children to watch.
This is something you can do with children. It's also a good idea for them to get into the habit of switching off the television when their programme is over. In this way they get to share the responsibility of what they watch, and for how long."
If children are feeling left out at school because they don't get to see certain programmes, or if there are instances where programmes are impacting on behaviour, issues surrounding self-esteem can be addressed by parents and teachers.
"The RSE programme, for example, is an ideal facility to look at self-identity," says Kilfeather. "If it seems a cartoon is affecting children's behaviour to the extent that bullying - which includes excluding children who are not considered cool - is taking place, then it is very important for a school to address the bullying and examine underlying causes."
