SEX, LIES AND SOAPS

PROGRAMME 5: SCHOOL YEARS

From the aspirational teens of The OC to the pupils of Hollyoaks scrapping in the playground, are soaps giving a distorted picture of school life, or is this an innocent reflection of reality?

PROGRAMME AIMS

• To explore how far teenagers' own real-life experiences of education and schooling are reflected in soap opera
• To investigate whether and in what ways teenagers are influenced by the versions of education and schooling they see in soaps
• To compare the values placed on education in American, Australian and British soap operas
• To consider how the economic and practical pressures on soap producers affect the kinds of stories they can offer.

THE CHARACTERS

• Californian students Brendon, Danny and Meagan – share an affluent lifestyle and an exclusive private-school education, and say their social lives are like those shown in The OC, but that their defining feature is their driving ambition to get into top universities
• Alice and Amanda – middle-class 17-year-old OCem> fans from commuter-belt Dorking. They are studying for A-levels, and are inspired to achieve by the limitations of soap teens
• Jade – 18-year-old Londoner who left school two years ago. Now works in a bar, and is critical of the low aspirations and limited horizons of teens in soaps
• Afolabi – very conscientious 16-year-old GCSE student in a London school. He attends catch-up classes as well as having an intensive school day. He says his life is very boring compared with the exciting social lives of teens in EastEnders
• Johnson and Joshua – 16-year-olds who watch Coronation Street and EastEnders, but feel that teens in soaps don't reflect their ambitions for the future
• Andrew – 18-year-old who believes there is not enough coverage in soaps of academic issues and what really goes on in classrooms
• Kate – 15-year-old OC fanatic from Liverpool who feels that soaps can provide inspiring role models to show how even bad boys like Ryan can change and achieve success. Her peer Laura enjoys the more realistic environment of Hollyoaks
• Tony Jordan – writer and series consultant for EastEnders. He explains the practical difficulties of showing teens at school or work, and explains why serial drama needs young characters to stay near to their homes
• Steve Frost – executive producer of Coronation Street. He argues that limiting teens' horizons provides satisfying dramatic tension
• Hollie-Jane Bowes – plays Michaela in Hollyoaks, and takes us behind the scenes to show how the life of an entire school is constructed from a single classroom and four lockers
• Brian Kirkwood – executive producer of Hollyoaks. He believes school life offers many relevant soap stories, including bullying, teen pregnancy, and rites of passage
• Peter Dodds – executive producer of Neighbours. He believes his soap accurately reflects the educational pressures on Australian teens
• Kyal Marsh and Eliza Taylor-Cotter – Boyd Hoyland and Janae Timmins from Neighbours. They are not convinced their characters' educational successes are realistically portrayed, or that academic achievement and university experience is necessarily the most important factor in success
• Aric Sigman – anti-TV psychologist and author of Remotely Controlled. He believes a realistic view of school life would not appeal to viewers
• Grace Dent – Guardian soap critic who agrees that parent-teacher conferences don't make good TV. She also suggests that British soaps in particular have traditionally maintained the status quo of their teenage characters by limiting their social mobility.