Ofcom said it is considering an investigation into a new “body positivity” TV show that sees adults strip naked in front of teens after receiving a flood of complaints.
The UK’s broadcasting regulator told The Epoch Times it was currently assessing almost 1,000 complaints from outraged viewers over Channel 4’s “Naked Education.”
The first episode of the six-part series showed adults stand stark naked in front of a group of 14- to 16-year-olds in what producers say shows different bodies to help quell people’s insecurities.
Ofcom said on Wednesday it had received a total of 930 complaints about the programme since it aired on April 4.
It said those complaints related to “nudity before the watershed” and the nudity being “presented to participants in the programme aged 14–16”.
Asked by The Epoch Times on Thursday whether it would be launching an investigation into the programme, an Ofcom spokesperson said, “We are assessing the complaints against our broadcasting rules, but are yet to decide whether or not to investigate.”
Episodes will tackle issues including body hair, male body image, the effects of ageing, and cosmetic surgery.
One episode sees the hosts test teenagers’ knowledge of the female anatomy, while another sees them discuss what happens to the body as it ages.
‘Safeguarding’
“Naked Education” is fronted by TV presenter Anna Richardson, who also presents Channel 4’s “Naked Attraction.”Radio DJ Yinka Bokinni and former “Love Island” contestant Dr. Alex George also host the controversial new series.
The broadcaster said the show features “candid conversations and naked exchanges between people who have undergone similar experiences and body transformations.”
Although the full series has not yet been broadcast, there has been calls for it to be taken off air.
Miriam Cates MP told the newspaper the programme is “extremely concerning” from a child safeguarding point of view.
“From an early age we teach children that intimate parts of their bodies are private. This is to help protect them from abuse and to reinforce important social boundaries that keep women and children safe in public,” she said.
“It is therefore extremely concerning that some people want to undermine these important boundaries by deliberately exposing children—who are too young to consent—to naked adult bodies.
“There seem to be no limits to the way that innocent children can be used by adults for political ends.”
Fellow Tory MP Jonathan Gullis also criticised the Channel 4 programme.
“Adults stripping off in front of kids is not how responsible sex education should happen. If this were a film, there would be parental warnings and age restrictions all over it,” he said, according to the Express.
Brendan Clarke-Smith MP also said: “I think there’s a big difference between learning what the human body looks like and what is effectively normalising stripping off naked in front of children.
Social Media Fury
Discussing the controversy around “Naked Education” on “Good Morning Britain,” TV presenter Kate Garraway said the show made her feel “uncomfortable.”“I’m really interested in this debate because my gut instinct is to be very uncomfortable about it,” she said.
“There’s something about the physicality of a stranger being naked in front of a teenager which I just feel uncomfortable about, because of all the things that we read about.”
Hitting back at criticism of the programme on Wednesday, Channel 4’s Chief Content Officer Ian Katz wrote on Twitter: “Anyone who suggests that the Channel 4 show Naked Education promotes paedophilia or is abusive of children almost certainly hasn’t watched it.
“The show counters the dangerous myths and toxic images that teenagers are bombarded with by exposing them to real, normal bodies and engaging them in an open, safe conversation about them,” he wrote.
“It would be hard to think of a clearer example of valuable public service broadcasting that challenges the kind of misconceptions that too often cause anxiety and feelings of inadequacy in young people.”
Some social media users reacted angrily to Katz’s posts.
One replied: “As a parent of a teen I’m repulsed by it. Film consenting adults. Then if schools want it for educational purposes they can show it within a school setting.”
Another wrote: “Do you have children? How would you feel if their male biology teacher took his clothes off in class and displayed his genitalia to them?”
Katz’s statement comes after a Channel 4 spokesperson previously told Mail Online: “All the teenagers who participated in ‘Naked Education’ did so with appropriate consent.
“They and their guardians were fully aware and prepared to take part in the item about body taboos and they all had support throughout.”
