School Films Shock Miss Bartlett (Press, 5 December 1979)

In December 1979, Miss Patricia Bartlett, the national secretary of the Society for Promotion of Community Standards, expressed her outrage regarding the National Film Library's decision to purchase a series of controversial films dealing with sexual perversions for schools across New Zealand. The films, all rated GY and labelled as discussion films, included titles such as "Brad," focusing on teenage homosexuality; "Jenny," highlighting teenage lesbianism; "Wendy," which dealt with teenage abortion; "Kerry," about an unmarried teenage mother; along with "Weekend" and "Disco," addressing adolescents' attitudes towards various issues. Bartlett voiced her concern that the acquisition of six copies of each film in this series, titled "The Growing Up Series," was shocking, particularly because the National Film Library is entirely government-funded. She referred to a 1977 New South Wales educational booklet, "Contact 18," which indicated that the depicted behaviours in these films may not reflect the views of the majority of teenagers and suggested that the films could be seen as promoting certain attitudes and behaviours without making moral judgments. The film "Brad" portrays a happy homosexual teenager who finds acceptance in a homosexual group, while "Jenny" offers an intimate view of the relationship between two young lesbians. "Wendy" tells the story of a schoolgirl who, after discussions with her mother and boyfriend, decides to have an abortion. Bartlett raised questions regarding the recommendations behind the purchase of these films, asking who had advised the library on their selection and whether the films were previewed before purchase. She queried if the Education Department was responsible for the acquisitions, the involvement of an advisory panel appointed by the Director-General of Education to evaluate materials for human development and relationship programmes, and the overall cost to taxpayers for the films. In conclusion, Bartlett pointed out that the public submissions on the Johnson Report, which aimed to assess New Zealand parents' desires for human development and relationship programmes in schools, had not yet been analysed. She stated that it seemed inappropriate for the National Film Library to make such purchases prior to any conclusions being drawn from this analysis, especially given the controversial nature of the subject matter and the potential implications of endorsing varying perspectives on morality and ethics in education.

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