From Ms L. Gatt

The television programme FIVE06 is giving a false impression to the viewing public, and stabbing in the back not only the female adolescents who live in this type of sheltered environment but also the caring staff who work there.

I worked in a home for female adolescents as a Care Worker and then as a professional Residential Social Worker so I speak from experience when I say that it is immoral and irresponsible to present a television drama that is insulting to both the residents and the staff, and gives a totally incorrect impression to viewers. Anyone who has worked in a professional capacity in these homes will confirm the truth of this.

It is unfair on the residents to portray them as having criminal tendencies. They are young people who, like any other young people, are going through adolescence, when rebellious behaviour is quite normal. Viewers of this series may well believe that all female adolescents living in a sheltered environment are prostitutes or criminals from the way they are being portrayed in this drama – and this is just deceiving the public.

In a small country such as Malta there is only one sheltered home for female adolescents, so it is easy to assume which home is being referred to. But this is the home of the girls who live there and intrusion into someone’s property is a criminal offence. Only unprofessional people will gain pleasure from divulging what goes on in private, in someone’s home, and it is particularly shocking that there are shots of the “home” in the series that bear a close resemblance to the actual home in Malta. All that is missing to complete the picture is the façade of the home and its name!

This is a tragic and shameful drama.

Loredana Gatt

GUDJA