That feeling at the start of the new school year stays with you through life. The chilly nip behind the morning sun as it picks out dewdrops on spiders' webs, the stiff formality of cap, collar, tie and blazer, the mingled excitement and anxiety at the prospect of new people, new challenges. At this time of year, our memories are prompted by exam results, and first days at school for each new generation.
The BBFC has an established education programme working with schools, colleges, universities, charities and schools tours providers to offer a broad spectrum of education events each year. This term we are scheduled to give talks in, among other places, Essex, Peterborough, Leicester, Lampeter, York, London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Derry, Belfast and Hull.
Each year we also host several industry masterclass events at film screenings organised by Film Education's National Schools Film Week. There primary and secondary school children watch a film aimed at their age group and discuss how and why it was rated with an examiner, and more generally how and why classification happens.
Our education department is always looking for new ways to expand and improve what we offer to schools, colleges and young people. In the last five years we've started working with school tours operators to give short sessions in our Soho HQ. We've also installed video conferencing equipment to broadcast lectures for schools unable to visit us in London, and forged links with film festivals, independent cinemas, play schemes and film clubs.
We have two education websites, www.cbbfc.co.uk (for younger children) and www.sbbfc.co.uk. They are regularly updated with new features, including games, competitions and activities for younger children and timelines, podcasts and case study materials on interesting decisions from the past and present for those older pupils and undergraduates studying cinema more specifically.
We provide information for parents too, through extended and detailed consumer information (ECI) on www.pbbfc.co.ukand through the BBFC app, offering those viewers who want to find it a careful rationale of our decisions with key examples of stand out classification issues (like violence, drugs, sex, sexual violence).
Why do we do it? There are many reasons. Our education work, particularly when it brings us face to face with children and young adults, allows our philosophy of openness and accountability with the public to be made real.
Examiners who take part, including me, report back on the reactions their lecture groups have to specific issues and whether these uncover any new or significant trends. Overall we are always impressed by the high level of engaged and informed discussion we experience in classrooms and lecture halls as we explain our work and talk about real examples with media literate youngsters.
Speaking to this next, media savvy generation is challenging for us and reminds us of the engagement, and even sense of developing responsibility in relation to their own viewing decisions, which children start to show from an early age. It can offer a glimpse behind the scenes into the British film industry for those studying media and film production or theory, whilst generating debate for others exploring citizenship or general studies.
And the benefits are indeed great for us too. Our education work also provides examiners with a window into the changing face of media consumption and the burgeoning opinions of the next generation of viewers who will, in time, become the next generation of parents.
Sessions can skip across the spectrum of material we cover too. It wouldn't be unheard of for an examiner to be explaining The Dark Knight's 12A one minute, and the consumer advice for The Dambusters the next, before teasing out the subtle differences in tone and context between Tom & Jerry, Itchy & Scratchy and The Happy Tree Friends before rounding up with intense discussion on how far public information films, documentaries and 'true life' stories should be allowed to go and how much swearing is too much to hear.
Teenagers especially are often ahead of the curve on the burning issues of classification. Their strong views on discriminatory language in films and their concern about anti-social behaviour in films and TV, for example, foreshadowed our recent Guidelines research and independent study into the use of racist and homophobic language and other discriminatory terms relating to disability.
We speak to the public and gauge their views during our Guideline reviews and other research but it is helpful to ensure we have real and regular contact with the groups we are often working hardest to inform and protect: children, their parents and others, like teachers, who make a call on what their charges can watch.