SEX, LIES AND SOAPS
PROGRAMME 5: SCHOOL YEARS
PROGRAMME OUTLINE
00.00 – 02.27
Introduction: Soaps are full of school-age teenagers, from aspirational OC students to the scrapping teens of Hollyoaks, to the perfect students in Neighbours. Does this reflect reality? Or does it influence how young people lead their lives?
02.28 – 05.11
Currently the most desirable soap school is the affluent Californian Harbour School, featured in The OC, a glamorous and luxuriously appointed campus for children of the (very) rich and famous. Students Brendon, Danny and Meagan claim their school days are indeed as glitzy as those shown in The OC, without 'the drama and crazy stuff'. Soap expert Grace Dent suggests that it's the aspirations and limitless possibilities of these students' lives that attract the British teenage audience. The difference is that in The OC, academic aspirations are extremely high, and achievement is taken very seriously; for the rich, getting the straight-A grades to enter a prestigious university is far more important than social life.
05.12 – 6.45
Middle-class Dorking teenagers Alice and Amanda (17) admire The OC's aspirational values, but say the downside can be a sense of depressing unattainability. However, Ryan, The OC's 'kid from the wrong side of the tracks' is the inspirational antidote – Kate from Liverpool suggests he sets teens a good example as proof of how under-privileged kids can change and achieve.
6.46 – 10.23
In British soap, school-age teens are never shown in school; London teens say their own hardworking lives studying for GCSEs are boring compared to EastEnders. Psychologist Aric Sigman agrees that the realism of school life would not attract audiences. EastEnders writer and consultant Tony Jordan argues that soaps are set in the domestic world; EastEnders is all about the community, which is why characters are usually shown in the pub or square. British soap teens tend to leave school at 16 to go to work, often in menial jobs – for example, EastEnders' Gus is a street sweeper – a negative role model for teenagers, who need positive inspiration; Coronation Street has featured the story of Craig, who leaves school to become a mechanic. In fact, British soap has a long tradition of teens without ambition, young people who do not aspire to challenge their place in the social structure – 'People stay in their class.'
10.24 – 11.42
London schoolboys are critical of soaps for failing to reflect teenagers' ambitions for the future, or fairly representing every type of career open to young people. They should be offering aspirations and role models for young people on council estates. In contrast, Alice and Amanda argue that they do encourage ambition – because 'you don't want to be like them'.
11.43 –14.14
There are institutional reasons why EastEnders never shows school life – there is no way of incorporating a school building and 4,000 kids into the Walford set, so the younger characters are shown working in the market instead. Tony Jordan admits it's hard to dramatise the aspirations of characters like Bradley without going out of Walford to show his City environment; the London schoolboys agree it's unrealistic. Coronation Street producers create reasons why their teen characters must stay in Weatherfield, such as conflict between Sally Webster and daughter Rosie, who wants life experience rather than academic success, thus creating dramatic tension in the family.
14.14 – 18.08
Hollyoaks alone features school storylines, shot in a highly constructed set with much trickery. Viewers demonstrate their awareness of how it's done, and discuss their lack of realism. Storylines never focus on schoolwork – only relevant aspects of personal life, such as bullying, teen pregnancy, and other rites of passage. Perhaps this works precisely because it avoids the ordinary realism of school life, such as option choices, in favour of high-spots, such as playground fights – 'Two girls having a scrap is absolutely television gold.'
18.08 – 21.54
Unusually, Neighbours does feature storylines about schoolwork, exams, and career ambition, which producers think reflect the interests of real Australian teens. However, these are not always treated realistically, as Boyd and Janae (Kyal March and Eliza Taylor-Cotter) confess; ironically, both feel that the soap's emphasis on academic success is over-rated. Amanda and Alice also believe success comes too easy in Neighbours.
21.55 – end
Soaps don't reflect the reality of teenage school years, but should they try to show more positive role models? British teenagers summarise their views: more on the academic side of school life; higher aspirations for teenage characters; acknowledgement of the possibilities and opportunities, and guidance and inspiration for younger children.
