TV shows 'should carry warnings before 9pm'

TV programmes should carry warnings at the start to stop children being exposed to inappropriate, violent or explicit material, headteachers have said.

More action needs to be taken to make sure that shows screened before the 9pm watershed are suitable for the audience and to prevent youngsters from witnessing adult themes, according to the National Association of Head Teachers.

Amanda Hulme, head of Claypool Primary School in Bolton, who is proposing a motion on the charter at the NAHT's conference in Birmingham, said: "In the last couple of months there has been examples of inappropriate language before the watershed."

In one case, someone used the phrase "bloody hell" and in another "p**s off" was used, she claimed.

"I think that's completely inappropriate," she added. "If I used either of those phrases in school, either in assembly or in front of a group of children there would be serious repercussions."