However, most parents also believe that families on shows like EastEnders and Coronation Street bear little resemblance to those in real life.

And 80% of those surveyed said too much sex, violence, infidelity and alcohol abuse meant soaps did not portray the family in a positive light.

Coronation Street was said to contain the most broken families and single people.

And EastEnders tended to be filled with scenes of "serious" conflict, which often led to physical violence.

Do you feel that soaps mirror real life? Are families portrayed in a negative light?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

Your reaction

Nobody in real life would air their dirty washing in a crowded pub

Forbes Cunningham, UK

Real life is mirrored in a nostalgic way. It is reflective of real life but within a restricted area. Nobody in real life would air their dirty washing so often in a crowded pub!
Forbes Cunningham, UK

People simply do not do what is portrayed in soaps. I'm not joking but the Simpsons are more realistic than they seem. All in all, soaps exist for people who do not have enough going on in their one lives so they look in on the lives of others.
Robert, UK

Soaps only reflect the ideas, whims and worldview of the scriptwriters.
David Parsons, England

I certainly hope soaps don't mirror real life - otherwise everyone would be cheating on their partners, beating up their neighbours, having under-age sex, stealing, lying, committing rape and murder, and generally showing humanity at its very worst. Surely we're better than that, aren't we?
Kaye, UK

They're not real and they're not your friends! Still at least soap opera viewers make us sad trekkies feel better about ourselves.
Briam M, UK

They don't mirror life, they exaggerate it

Thomas, UK

They don't mirror life, they exaggerate it. They take all the things that really do happen in real life and have them happen all in one place. It seems unrealistic, but I'd expect all these things really happen, just to lots of different people instead of one small group of people.
Thomas, UK

Unless there are real life families that actually do say "what's that supposed to mean" every five minutes, then I think the answer is no.
James Warwick, UK

I always find it funny that people take these things much too seriously. I am always amazed when soap stars say they get abuse in the street because they play a nasty character. It says a lot about the British public when they can't tell the difference between reality and fiction
Vish, UK

A few years ago in Coronation Street, Nick and Leanne eloped to get married in Scotland and in the very same week as it being shown on TV my wife and I were doing exactly the same thing! When my family were watching it back home they jokingly wondered if we were eloping after seeing the storyline but didn't believe it until we got home!
Colin, UK

They are addictive

Jon E, France (expat UK)

If soaps were realistic, they would mainly feature overweight families, sat around televisions, not talking to each other, and feeding on the junk food that is advertised in the breaks. Soap operas are like illegal drugs, but worse. They are addictive, very unhealthy, they stifle the imagination, and brainwash their victims into believing that real life resembles their ludicrous, often violent plots. I'm not saying they should be banned, but surely one, unrepeated hour per week would be a sensible maximum for any soap.
Jon E, France (expat UK)

I do believe they reflect real life. I think they may seem unrealistic because they cover all things from life and apply it to a set number of characters and it's hard to believe so much would happen to those people. I've gone through all sorts in the last couple of years and have very much felt my life was like soap.
Emma Newing, England

There are certainly aspects of soaps that mirror real life (otherwise, where would they get their ideas from??). But in general, the storylines are a little far-fetched to reflect reality although top marks for bringing some of the issues into the limelight. Of course, none of this relates to Coronation Street, Emmerdale (more sit-coms than soap operas) and Brookside (more Hollywood movie than anything else!!!).
Paul Hart, UK