THE NEW ‘12A’ CERTIFICATE FOR THE CINEMA
Q What does the ‘A’ in ‘12A’ stand for?
A It stands for ‘accompanied’ and it also stands for ‘advisory’.
Q Does the ‘12A’ replace the ‘12’ certificate?
A Yes, for the cinema only. There are no plans at present to change the ‘12’ certificate for video.
Q What does the ‘12A’ mean in practice?
A Children under the age of 12 will be able to see a
‘12A’ film at the cinema if they are accompanied by a
person of 18 years or over. The adult must watch the film with the
child or children and not just pay for the ticket.
Q Why are you not insisting that it is a parent who accompanies the child?
A We asked both the people who took part in the Norwich
pilot and the national survey whether only a parent should take a child
into a ‘12A’. The majority (64 per cent nationally) said
that a parent was preferable, but almost as many (59 per cent) said
that any responsible adult of 18 or over would be acceptable. This
clearly allows for aunts, uncles, older siblings, teachers or other
parents to take children to see a ‘12A’ film. The staff in
the cinemas are well able to judge whether the adult with the children
is ‘responsible’ and can of course refuse entry to anyone
if they are not satisfied.
Q But will you be giving any advice about accompaniment?
A We are recommending that cinema staff use the same
commonsense tests as they have always used when adults have accompanied
younger children. We are reminding them that they have a duty of care
to all the public but particularly to their younger cinema-goers. They
should certainly report to the police any individual of whom they are
suspicious. Cinema licences include a requirement that there is an
adequate number of staff, and many cinemas require that a member of
staff be in each auditorium every 20 minutes or so to look out for any
suspicious behaviour. Aside from that, our advice is that cinema staff
require that the ‘responsible adult’ be over 18, and has a
family or professional relationship (e.g., a teacher) with at least one
of the children accompanied, and that the adult should buy the tickets
and accompany the under-12s throughout the screening.
Q Does this mean that very young children could see a ‘12A’ film?
A Only if an accompanying adult accepts responsibility. The
BBFC considers the content to be suitable for children of 12 and over.
We would not recommend taking very young children to see
‘12A’ rated films, but parents or guardians must decide
whether the film is suitable for their child or children.
Q So why don’t you simply set a minimum age limit e.g. 8 or 10 years old?
A This has not generally been found necessary in other
countries which have used the ‘12A’ system. We would prefer
to rely upon the good judgement of parents, supported by good consumer
advice. But we will monitor the ‘12A’ closely during its
first year or so and we would not rule out any modifications based upon
national experience.
Q Why not a ‘12A’ for video as well?
A Because it would make no useful difference to the present
situation for video. The present video ‘12’ means that you
have to be 12 or above to rent or buy the video.
Q What will happen to old ‘12’-rated films that are still showing?
A All ‘12’-rated cinema films will immediately
become ‘12A’. No doubt some of them will still have the old
‘12’ certificate on the front and in their publicity; but
they will be treated as a ‘12A’.
Q Why are you changing the ‘12’ to a ‘12A’? Are you bowing to commercial pressure?
A The initiative for the ‘12A’ was entirely the
Board’s and was not asked for the industry. The Board receives a
steady stream of letters from parents of children who are under 12
asking why they cannot make the decision about whether their child
should see a ‘12’ rated film. We know the development and
maturity of children varies considerably. The equivalent of a
‘12A’ is the norm in most of Europe and North America.
Q How do you know the public are behind the decision?
A The Board ran a pilot in Norwich for seven weeks at the
end of 2001. The results of the research, which involved polling before
the pilot, focus groups and polling people coming out of the cinemas
during the pilot, showed that people in Norwich would only agree to
changing the ‘12’ rating to an advisory rating provided
children under 12 were accompanied by an adult and that consumer advice
about the content of the film was available, not just in the cinemas,
but in the cinema listings in the local newspapers. The Board followed
this up with a national survey in May 2002 of around 4000 people
throughout the UK, with specific emphasis on parents. The national
survey produced similar results to the Norwich research with 70 per
cent agreeing that the category should become advisory but only with
adult accompaniment and consumer advice in the local listings.
Q Does this mean that ‘12A’ films will be
‘softer’ than the current ‘12’ because young
children will be able to see them?
A No, the published Guidelines for ‘12’ will
remain unchanged. This is why it is essential that parents have access
to information about why a film has been made a ‘12A’
before they go to the cinema. Was it because of the violence (how
strong was it?), because of bad language, because of some moderate
graphic sex scenes, or for some other reason?
Q Where will they get this information?
A The cinema industry has promised to provide it in all its
main publicity. So a line of advice, explaining why the film is a
‘12A’, will appear on posters, in TV advertisements, and
alongside the billings in local newspapers. The information will be
generated by the BBFC every time it classifies a film.
Q Should we expect a ‘15A’ and an ‘18A’ soon?
A No. We have no plans at all for making these ratings
advisory. Neither of these categories is suitable for young children,
accompanied or otherwise. At present, issues of potential harm to
children are kept out of ‘U’, ’PG’ or
‘12’/’12A’ rated films though they may be
allowed in ‘15’ and ‘18’ rated films. Examples
are the glamorisation of easily accessible weapons like knives, or
dangerously imitable behaviour like how to hang yourself, or drug
abuse. They may be allowed at ‘15’ and ‘18’ (if
the context justifies them) and that is why ‘15’ and
‘18’ will remain mandatory for the foreseeable future.
Q Why are you introducing this at the end of the school holidays
when children are least likely to get the benefit of the new
‘12A’?
A We apologise to the children. No doubt the industry would
have preferred us to move much earlier too. But we had to be satisfied
that the public, and particularly parents, supported what we were doing
and we had to be satisfied that the crucial provision of consumer
advice for ‘12’ rated films was already in place and
working. Only then were we prepared to make the change to
‘12A’.