End Of Grange Hill

[brokencross]

Last episode of Grange Hill coming up today. I for one am not sad to see the demise of Grange Hill.

I reckon Phil Redmonds desire to have a gritty, "let's show it as it really is, and tackle sensitive issues" in a children's drama set in a school has, over the years, contributed to the increase bad behaviour in our schools.

Of course, bullying, truanting, back talking teachers, drink and drug taking, underage sex and pregnancy and extremes of bad behaviour already existed in schools BUT only in some classes, in some schools and in some areas. Not all children were exposed to this way of life in school.

By bringing Grange Hill in to our living rooms it set a bad example to any children who were easily led or vulnerable; it normalised bad behaviour and in some cases glamourised it, especially because it was carried out by "likeable" rogue characters. Because it seemed the norm to ignore and be rude to teachers and be generally disruptive at school some children would then carry out copycat behaviour at school.

You may say I am a doom and gloom merchant and children can distinguish between fiction and fact and would not be influenced by a TV programme.
I am not saying every child would go out and take drugs, get drunk , have babies and bunk off school but what I am saying is that it has encouraged the disruptive, disrespectful behaviour we see in schools today.

Rant over; no I am not a teacher. (hands now over ears and head awaiting flak)

[The Pepsi Challenge]

Get over yersel', it was a bit of light entertainment for kids.

[Murdina Bug]

Bit of a chicken and egg situation this - what came first the tv show leading to bad behaviour or the bad behaviour leading to a tv show?

I haven't watched this since Tucker was a lad so can't comment on any recent content however I now watch Eastenders and show no desire to spend all my time hanging round market stalls or propping up a bar talking in a Cockney accent! I guess some poor easily impressionable souls may be affected by TV shows but I think they would probably have a personality disorder in some way to start with. No, I don't think Grangehill has caused the demise of generations - we used to get more of a lecture along the lines of 'don't even think of trying that here!' - so it could be argued that it opened up debates on manners and discipline....?

[mike.mckenzie]

Yeah, the ethos of Grange Hill and its target market changed changed towards the end though. Its ended up being filmed in Liverpool now, just down the road from my son's school.

Grange Hill was great, when it was at its peak (everyone has a different time for when it was at its peak) it was top television, acted well, (look how many went on to other things) and it did have a message for kids who were going through things. Look how superficially "issues" are dealt with now in comparison, I don't think Hollyoaks could hold a candle to what Grange Hill achieved in its time.

It did all that and delivered funa nd humour too. Eastenders would do well to strike thta balance.

As for influencing me, can't say that at 7 years old, I rushed out to get whacked on crack like Zammo. Even then I was struck by the grim seediness of it all, that, I'll admit, stayed with me!

First post for a while, and its about Grange Hill. Who'd have thought.

[mike.mckenzie]

And in direct reference to your demise of standards behaviourally and morally, thats more to do with bad parenting than anything else.

Also, my generation watched Grange Hill, but this generation gets to blow people up on Playstation and download clips of scallies with guns on YouTube.

[balto]

i for one am sad to see grange hill go, havent watched it for years but a lot of us grew up watching it. it covered wide range of topics that affect teenagers. such a shame

[telfordstar]

as a mother and adult would it not be up to you after watching the program to tell your child that this is actors and not to copy what is going on the tv or do people rely on the tv so they can get away from talking to them about the birds and the bees and the trouble of taking drugs can get you into

[dook]

Rooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllla aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnndddddddddd!! ! Zammo's chasin the dragon.

[telfordstar]

how crap was that last episode

[hotrod4]

There is alot worse on telly now than Grange Hill.
The zammo storyline was fantastic,It was the first time that my mum sat down and discussed Drugs in an honest and open way(birds and bees I already had sorted!). If it hadnt been for that programme anything couldve happened but it gave my mum some info and also educated me on the dangers of becoming a smackheed. It was a lesson that at the age of ** I never forgot and am eternally grateful for the lesson in life it gave.

[Welcomefamily]

I havent seen it for years I didnt realise it was still on.

[hotrod4]

I havent seen it for years I didnt realise it was still on.

You've just missed the very last episode so no point getting into it now!!!!! ;)

[scorrie]

Rooooooooooooooooooollllllllllllllllllllllllllllla aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnndddddddddd!! ! Zammo's chasin the dragon.


Just say No. Unless you're in Scotland, in which case Just say Nae.

[Mik.M.]

And in direct reference to your demise of standards behaviourally and morally, thats more to do with bad parenting than anything else.

Also, my generation watched Grange Hill, but this generation gets to blow people up on Playstation and download clips of scallies with guns on YouTube.
Have to agree with you Mike.

[golach]

For goodness sake, Grange Hill, was just a television drama created by the BBC, it was not real, (neither is Dr Who strangely enough) Eastenders, Corry St are all fictitious too, maybe some do not realise that.
Playschool and the Magic Roundabout were much more realistic IMHO [lol]

[Invader]

Do you not think the decline in stardards and behaviour probably has more to do with the banning of the belt in Scottish schools, which coincidentally happened exactly at the same time as the start of Grange Hill.

I used to get flogged to within an inch of my life, 8 times a day, and it never did me any harm.... etc. etc. National service, capital punishment etc..

Signed,

Major Blustering-Buffoon (Retired)

[Valerie Campbell]

I think it had a good innings, but like others here, it was the Zammo storyline that I remember best. I did think the song they did was a bit naff though...

[Kevin Milkins]

I havent seen it for years I didnt realise it was still on.

I also thought the programme finished years ago.:confused
If I remember, Tod Carty was Tucker and he was still in it the last time I saw it.
I also remember a fat lad with glasses that used to get bullied a lot.
Is he the same lad that went on to write and act in Gavin and Stacy?

[joxville]

Do you not think the decline in stardards and behaviour probably has more to do with the banning of the belt in Scottish schools, which coincidentally happened exactly at the same time as the start of Grange Hill.

I used to get flogged to within an inch of my life, 8 times a day, and it never did me any harm.... etc. etc. National service, capital punishment etc..

Signed,

Major Blustering-Buffoon (Retired)

I think you have your dates mixed up Invader. Grange Hill started around 1977/78, co-inciding with my first term in secondary school. Not a week went by in my time at high school that I didn't get a few lashes of the belt, a waste of time cause I still haven't learned when to keep schtum. My school stopped using it after I left in 1981, with other schools following suit in the 80's. I think it's eventual ban from use in schools by education authorities/government was sometime in the 90's.

[Invader]

You're quite right, a wee bit of research reveals.......

Grange Hill started 1978, I started WHS in 1979 and never heard of anyone in my year getting the "Lochgelly" after 2nd year, so that ties in with what you say.
It was finally banned in the UK only in 1998!

Okay, the point I was trying to make was that the "decline" started AROUND the time of the demise of the Belt. I wasn't inferring that as soon as the finishing credits rolled on the first episode of GH, or the day the belt was banned in each individual school, the behaviour of schoolkids instantly descended into anarchy, violence, compulsary narcotic abuse, and 3 kids before the age of 17.

My apologoes for my incorrect use of the word "exactly", I QUITE LITERALLY exploded with embarrassment when I noticed it.

And apologies for the use of "Quite literally" also, because I obviously didn't explode, or my wife would be wiping fragments of me off the walls by now......

Pedants of the world unite..... again!