Asocial, shy kids not desired: Deputy PM

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

‘We do not wish for shy, socially incapable children. We wish for a youth that is moving, lively,’ Arınç says. DHA photo

The state does not wish to raise a generation of “shy, socially incapable” children, but will do whatever it can to protect them from the bad influences forced upon them by traditional media outlets and social media, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Arınç said today. 

“It is impossible to close our eyes to television, and it isn’t right to do so,” Arınç said during a press conference made up of media bosses and experts, within the framework of the Children and Media Movement. “Of course newspapers will be read, magazines too. We believe there are a lot of positive things that can be taken from those. We do not wish for shy, socially incapable children. Just as today, we wish for a youth that is moving, lively, brilliant and capable.”

‘A larger movement’

The children should be strongly protected, Arınç said, adding that state policies would fail to suffice.

“We try to do our best as state authorities, Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTÜK) has a job to do and does its best, TRT too tries to accomplish things within its framework. But what we aim to do is create a civil movement, and we don’t plan this congress as a government program, but as a larger movement,” Arınç said.

The Children and Media Congress will take place in November as a follow-up to a series of studies and events under the Children and Media Movement, a government-initiated project that has been developing with contributions from Turkey’s Children Foundation and RTÜK, which aims to prevent media’s negative effects on children.