Yizo Yizo blamed for the ills it portrays
A study comissioned by the SABC has found that almost one quarter of pupils feel that educational drama Yizo Yizo 2 encouraged bad language, while one third of parents claim that pupils started taking drugs and behaviour at school worsened because of the programme.
The previous series of Yizo Yizo caused a furore with the flighting of a prison sex scene in which a convicted murderer was forced to have sex with an older inmate to survive. There were calls for the show to be banned, but others felt that the hard-hitting show that is based on reality did its job in raising sensitive issues, confronting denial and getting people talking.
The evaluation was conducted by the Community Agency for Social Enquiry and the SA Institute for Distance Education. It was found that teachers from dysfunctional schools often blamed Yizo Yizo for bad behaviour among their pupils. However, there is no evidence to support this, and the behaviour existed prior to the show ever being on air.
The study also found that while many parents described the prison scene as "shocking, obscene, terrifying and scary", only 2% stopped watching the show because of it. More importantly, the study confirmed that Yizo Yizo 2's most powerful influence was to make younger viewers understand the consequences of crime and drugs.
