The debate
In February 2007, a UNICEF report on the wellbeing of children in the UK highlighted the dire state of childhood in Britain. Out of 21 developed countries our children came out the worst, despite Britain being the fifth wealthiest country in the world.
Is this report a true reflection of the lives of Britain's children and if so what should we do about it? This year 'Child of Our Time' launched its most ambitious project to date, filming the children continuously for 48 hours, aiming to catch every moment of their lives, wherever they were, whoever they were with, and whatever they were doing. It proved to be a unique opportunity to find out what children’s lives are really like.
In a special 90 minute programme 'Revolution in Childhood', for BBC FOUR, Martha Kearney leads a panel of experts as they take a closer look at modern childhood, covering subjects such as Play, the 'Me' Generation, Communication and Technology and asking if childhood is really under threat – and if it is, what we can do about it.
The participants
Used with permission
Jay Belsky
Jay Belsky is Director of the Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues and is Professor of Psychology at Birbeck University, London. Professor Belsky is an internationally recognised expert in the field of child development and family studies. He’s the author of more than 300 scientific articles and chapters and the author of several books.
Used with permission
Robert Winston
Lord Winston, Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College, runs a research programme in the Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology, with a long-term aim of improving human transplantation. He has around 300 scientific publications on reproduction and embryology and is also Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University.
Used with permission
Tanya Byron
Tanya Byron has worked in the NHS for 18 years, working in Drug Dependency, HIV/AIDS and sexual health, adult mental health and eating disorders services. Dr Byron also presents television programmes on child behaviour, science and current affairs and has published three books on child behaviour.
Used with permission
Tim Gill
Tim Gill is one of the UK’s leading thinkers on childhood. His work focuses on children’s play and free time. He’s also published widely and appears regularly on radio and TV. Tim’s advised political parties and think-tanks representing a broad spectrum of political opinion, and has carried out consultancies for NGOs and public bodies.
BBC
Teresa Cremin
Teresa Cremin is a Professor of Education (Literacy) at the Open University. She is President of the United Kingdom Literacy Association (UKLA), the leading English Subject Association in the UK and dedicated to advancing education in literacy. Professor Cremin is known internationally for her work on creative approaches to teaching and learning literacy.
What do you think?
We'd like to know what you think about the state of childhood in Britain today - so we've set up an online survey exploring stress and childhood. So far it seems that:
- More than 8 in ten people think that there are too many pressures on children today and that children grow up too quickly
- Nearly 7 out of 10 people think that children don't get enough time to play
- Two-thirds feel that children don't get enough exercise
- But, surprisingly, only 3 in 10 think it's unsafe for children to play outside
- And about 1 in 3 think that computer games are good for children
But with your help, there's much more we can learn - complete our childhood and stress survey.
You can also share your views and opinions about what is happening to childhood - and what it means for our children in our comments section.
First broadcast: Thursday 5 Jun 2008 on BBC FOUR
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Revolution In Childhood
Tonight [5th June, 9pm] BBC Four hosts a debate looking at some of the questions raised by the latest series of Child of Our Time.
But what do you think? Do you agree with the UNICEF findings placing Britain at the bottom of a league of 'wellbeing' for children? If so, what's caused that - and what can we do about? If UNICEF have it wrong, what has caused that?
Some of the participants in the TV debate will be joining the discussions here on Open2 - as will Tessa Livingstone, executive producer of Child of Our Time.
You can find out more about the programme here:
http://www.open2.net/childofourtime/2008/revolutioninchildhood.html
Re: Revolution In Childhood
After watching tonights program, I am still firmly of the belief that educating children starts at home.
I still believe, as a mother of four that the job of being a mother is highly undervalued and if that is all
that you are you are not considered a worthy individual.
Mothers are expected to work outside and inside the home, leaving very little time or inclination to educate or care
properly for their children. They work so they can afford for someone else to do it- something that is encouraged by the Government in this country, featured highly in the news this week.
It is a very old fashioned view that women should not work while their children are under school age but it is one that I truly believe. The mother (or father) is the very best person to care for and love their own child.
To have the time to develop a relationship with the child and nuture the child in a very personal way that only they can to make the child feel secure.
When girls are exploring career options at school, I shouldn't think that to aspire to be a mother would feature very highly on the curriculum anymore.
There is no shame in being a good mother! There is no shame in being female. Feminism, although valuable in terms of being treated as an equal human has done more damage to the British family than any other single factor in our society today.
Girls are taught to have it all, regardless of the cost to themselves, to their families or their husbands ( if they bother to have one)
Children are thought of as an accessory, a right regardless of whether there is a father involved. Men are looked upon as second class citizens, put down in advertising, by womens rights groups and utterly undervalued in the contributions that they could make to life.
When women stayed at home to care for children and men did the majority of jobs life was simpler (yes a lot harder) but we have all the modern technology to help us that wasn't in place before.
Women are brought up to believe that they are princesses, demanding everything they want not need. How can a man possibly provide all of the things she feels she is entitled to? How can a man earn enough to care for his family when women take a lot of the jobs and the money and then pay another person to care for his children??
How does that make sense?
A woman is entitled to a career, yes of course. But when you have a baby, you GIVE UP that right for a while. You undertook to bring anther life into the world and you are responsible to care for it. Not farm it off so you can go to work to pay for the two cars, fancy holidays and other such luxuries that we all seem to take for granted.
If you can't afford these things with one wage, tough! If you don't want to give them up for a while, don't have children.
The government should support women who want to stay at home and take good proper care of a child and schools should teach girls that it's ok to want to do that, you don't have to be a something, you can just be a mother for a while.
Boys should be taught to be respectful and so should girls. They need to be taught that their differences are to be celebrated and emphasised, not mocked. A return to traditional values where children are concerned is one of the key things needed to balance society again.
The traditional lessons such as home economics and trade skills that were taught at school need to return. Authority over children needs to be returned to the parents and not given to the Government. Children need solid, consistant boundaries day in -day out. Yes, it's relentless, yes, mostly thankless but a lot of the time rewarding and you chose to do it!
If I had my way.........
Bin all convenience food!!!
Return to the 3 rs in school!!!
Ban women from public bars, returning to lounges for women and before you shout is there really anything more repulsive than a drunk woman........... think about it!
No trousers for girls in school, at all.
More policing on the streets to make England safer, so we can let them out.
More community spirit in our streets so our children are safer so we know who our neighbours are!
No more adoption for single people, that's a complete NO NO!
I'm sure I could think of more :-)
phew........... glad to get that off my chest.
and no I am not a sandal wearing hippie or any other such type, I am a 40 year old mother of four who chose to stay at home until my children were at school and love every (almost!) minute of it. My choice to have them, my choice to take care of them!
Re: Revolution In Childhood
Watching A Revolution in Childhood confirmed my observations. I taught early years and primary school children for over 25 years. Since leaving teaching, I have been writing courses and facilitaing courses and parent coaching for the past eight years. What I have observed is that many parents are confused about how to bring their children up. They want to do do the best they can for their children but they equate doing the best for their children as giving them everying they want, letting them do whatever they want. Children need balance in their lives. Parents need to begin with the end in mind i.e. ask the question if my aim is to raise loving, happy, well balances, I need to do?
The problem is parents tend to muddle through and many lack consistency. To raise balanced happy children takes time, dedication, determination and sometimes parents have to make unpopular decisions. In the present society most women are trying to do two full time jobs at the same time. The result is the family suffers. Many household are hotels. The children place their orders for food, toys etc but what they miss out on are the most important character building skills. Children are missing out on time listening and talking to parents and other family members, playing games as a family, reading and days out, learning to do chores etc. Children learn through playing and doing and interacting.
The answer to our present problem is for parents to take more responsibility for their children. The first five years are the foundation on which everything else is built so it's worth investing a few years staying at home with your child so the your child experiences a happy, balanced beginning. The biggest problem is that we want it all and we want it now. So we have to have the house, car, holiday and children. Unfortuately there is a cost in trying to have it all and the cost is children who are socially inept who don't know how to amuse themselves constructively. Children who join gangs or experiment with alcohol, drugs and sex are usualy children who lack balance and support at home. When parents provide balanced consistent parenting children learn to make positive choices.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
If I was more gracious and less picky I almost wish I had written this.
Revolution in childhood
Well all the panelists said very sensible things in last night's programme but I feel they neglected the single point that would make all their wishes come true: cars.
I wish they had invited Rob Wheway onto the programme to talk about his excellent research on the inversely proportional relationship between road traffic and the presence of chidren playing in streets.
I would willingly, happily turn off the television, ban the computer and send my children out into the street to play with other children unsupervised all day every day if there were not cars zooming up and down the street at 30 miles an hour every minute. Road traffic accidents are the biggest killer of children. It is the MASSIVE increase in road trafffic that has stopped parents allowing their children to play outside the house and garden unsupervised.
Yes my children are in captivity, yes I am fed up of sterile organised play centres and activities, yes I long for my children to go and hang out in the street with other children, playing imaginatively like I used to but I cannot in good conscience let them do so when there are killing machines racing up our street every minute of every day, cutting them off from the rest of the community.
Close my street to cars (or at the very least reduce the speed limit to 10mph) and every person on that panel would have their wish instantly. I don't understand why they didn't make more of the fact that the only child allowed out on his own was the one who could roam in the countryside free from the danger of speeding cars. Commentators should stop blaming parents when it is TRAFFIC has taken away our children's freedom. Being scared of a car killing your child is NOT overanxious parenting, it a very legitimate concern. TV, computers and organised activities are the desperate fill-ins that parents use because they can't let their children out like they would dearly love to.
I promise you, Child of our Time: deal with the huge increase in traffic in our environment and the problem of children's captivity (and the 'problem' of helicopter parents) will vanish.
Sammi
i thought the program offered some interesting thoughts on childhood although it is a small sample of children the same age with little time spent with them; it could be more extensive and include multi or cross-cultural issues. I don't think childhood is in crisis as such but poverty, lack of outdoor space, free activities particularly for older children/teens needs to be tackled. The experience of childhood is a vast one and really it should not be generalised -some children don't have very much, maybe look at effects of poverty or child carers who look after siblings or even a parent. Others may try to cope with a domestic situation or drug abuse and even worse. So, i think the programme could have looked at lots of different situations to get a better idea of what growing up can mean. Some children might not be having much of a childhood in the first place and that needs to be addressed.
Re: Revolution in childhood
Regarding your ad I understood that you claim the growing amount of cars which rolling everyday over Britain’s streets. I find that very interesting. In my opinion Britain’s transport infrastructure is not driving in addition to the economical development over the last view years. The everyday travelling (doesn't matter if by car, train, bus...etc) is not just in addition to entertaining ourselves. In first line travelling reasons are for surviving everyday's responsibilities.
For instance also each day heavy vehicles bringing supply to your neighbour’s shopping store or provide children’s favourite M Stores with stuff (the comfortable sides of life). No it is not the whole picture what you stated within your ad, it is not the cars only. I travel 80miles everyday just to pay my bills each month and I'm sure out there are many people who have to do the same everyday. But the streets are the same poor conditions like years ago, the same capacities like years ago, main roads are leading through each little village, traffic lights have no 'green wave system' like other European countries, schools are build without a well leaded flowing traffic system or enough parking spaces... and many more.
It is enough to close eyes and claim others. I agree that it is not the cars, streets, industry... that make our world danger. It's the human fear to reflect our role and influence during everyday responsibilities. That's why child hood experience changes from generation and time. Maybe some human brains run to fast but to stick in past and wish things never changed take away our energy to move forward and go with time.
Our kids went from one extreme into the other over just some years and it teaches us that time runs fast and tighter. We should stop to claim .... because to that time also kids died on simple sicknesses which will easily recovered these days. But nobody claims the medical development to stop or doing less?
I'm glad to see that Britain starts to question & evaluates our kids’ environment which highly shapes their childhood experience. At least we show them that we go with time & commerce development rather to ignore it.
Re: Revolution in childhood
Although I agree traffic and the lack of discipline of drivers are a contributing factor for the "imprisonment" of chldren it is far from the major cause. I personally would absolutely support of very low (<15mph) speed limits in designated residential areas but it would have to be backed up by draconian (automatic bans?) enforcement to be effective.
The program touched on many other causes for this problem such as the apparent higher risks from paedophiles and other unsaviory characters however the Jamie Boulger case showed that risk also arises from children themselves. Also as the child in the program last night in the park really did not know what to do with himself despite all the facilities in the park. Children seem almost unable to connect with other children unless they know them from another environment. As a 50+ and an Army "brat" I had to go through most of my childhood making new friends every 2 years with nobody helping me, you just watched for a while and sometimes you were invited but otherwise you just joined in. I and my brother would quite frequently go off and play virtually all day and come home in such a state that I would have to strip off outside to my underwear before being allowed in. Nowadays if a child is out of contact for more than an hour or comes home with a smudge on his designer shirt there is hell to pay.
One aspect of this program that worries me is its position in the schedule. This is one subject that affects virtually every family in the country but is relegated to BBC 4 and a late slot at that. I am not sure how you can widen the debate but it is desperately needed. We must allow our children to be just that and for as long as possible. My childrens secondary school annoyed me incessantly by referring to its entire roll as "young people", a term I would reserve for years 10 and 11 at best, what is wrong with being called a child. The term should have no derogitary connotations but just defines somebody as not being an adult with all the responisibilities that status brings.
As a parent of three (now adult) children I brought them up fairly conservatively and was frequently told by others how polite and considerate they were. I did not deliberately aim for this, just did what I thought was right. I was also asked if I would take control of the local Beaver Scout Group but declined as the majority were absolute monsters with absolutely no recognition of authority or discipline, I knew that I could not enforce my standards as I would not be supported by the parents.
A rant I know but this program generated more discussion in our family than most.
Re: Revolution in childhood
There are people over 50 tearing through malls at over 15 on electric sedans.
learning from exposure to dangerous experience is not allowed until too late
Re: Revolution in childhood
....I could not enforce my standards as I would not be supported by the parents. (quote by Yesterday 08:47 PM
Unregistered)
Maybe you think about that not everybody shares your point of view regarding ‘standards’. Where do you think you got your thinking about 'standards' from? Do you think it differs to your parent’s point of view?
I believe if the next generations would never do further thinking, we would still seat in the wood and articulate and behave like monkeys, or would we not?
I think that is what Britain starts to do 'thinking further and evaluate existing 'standard thinking'. And I hope they don’t just fight with symptoms again rather to look for deeper reasons what causes the symptoms.
Fighting against cars would be a short term fight of a symptom. It seems that Britain’s generation is definitely able to fight against symptoms. But is there a general ability to open the human mind with the ambition to find a reason what maybe causes the symptom?
Re: Revolution in childhood
"But is there a general ability to open the human mind with the ambition to find a reason what maybe causes the symptom?"
Well said!
It Starts At Home
After watching tonights program, I am still firmly of the belief that educating children starts at home.
I still believe, as a mother of four that the job of being a mother is highly undervalued and if that is all
that you are you are not considered a worthy individual.
Mothers are expected to work outside and inside the home, leaving very little time or inclination to educate or care
properly for their children. They work so they can afford for someone else to do it- something that is encouraged by the Government in this country, featured highly in the news this week.
It is a very old fashioned view that women should not work while their children are under school age but it is one that I truly believe. The mother (or father) is the very best person to care for and love their own child.
To have the time to develop a relationship with the child and nuture the child in a very personal way that only they can to make the child feel secure.
When girls are exploring career options at school, I shouldn't think that to aspire to be a mother would feature very highly on the curriculum anymore.
There is no shame in being a good mother! There is no shame in being female. Feminism, although valuable in terms of being treated as an equal human has done more damage to the British family than any other single factor in our society today.
Girls are taught to have it all, regardless of the cost to themselves, to their families or their husbands ( if they bother to have one)
Children are thought of as an accessory, a right regardless of whether there is a father involved. Men are looked upon as second class citizens, put down in advertising, by womens rights groups and utterly undervalued in the contributions that they could make to life.
When women stayed at home to care for children and men did the majority of jobs life was simpler (yes a lot harder) but we have all the modern technology to help us that wasn't in place before.
Women are brought up to believe that they are princesses, demanding everything they want not need. How can a man possibly provide all of the things she feels she is entitled to? How can a man earn enough to care for his family when women take a lot of the jobs and the money and then pay another person to care for his children??
How does that make sense?
A woman is entitled to a career, yes of course. But when you have a baby, you GIVE UP that right for a while. You undertook to bring anther life into the world and you are responsible to care for it. Not farm it off so you can go to work to pay for the two cars, fancy holidays and other such luxuries that we all seem to take for granted.
If you can't afford these things with one wage, tough! If you don't want to give them up for a while, don't have children.
The government should support women who want to stay at home and take good proper care of a child and schools should teach girls that it's ok to want to do that, you don't have to be a something, you can just be a mother for a while.
Boys should be taught to be respectful and so should girls. They need to be taught that their differences are to be celebrated and emphasised, not mocked. A return to traditional values where children are concerned is one of the key things needed to balance society again.
The traditional lessons such as home economics and trade skills that were taught at school need to return. Authority over children needs to be returned to the parents and not given to the Government. Children need solid, consistant boundaries day in -day out. Yes, it's relentless, yes, mostly thankless but a lot of the time rewarding and you chose to do it!
If I had my way.........
Bin all convenience food!!!
Return to the 3 rs in school!!!
Ban women from public bars, returning to lounges for women and before you shout is there really anything more repulsive than a drunk woman........... think about it!
No trousers for girls in school, at all.
More policing on the streets to make England safer, so we can let them out.
More community spirit in our streets so our children are safer so we know who our neighbours are!
No more adoption for single people, that's a complete NO NO!
I'm sure I could think of more :-)
phew........... glad to get that off my chest.
and no I am not a sandal wearing hippie or any other such type, I am a 40 year old mother of four who chose to stay at home until my children were at school and love every (almost!) minute of it. My choice to have them, my choice to take care of them!
Re: It Starts At Home
I know some Catholic people that sound a bit like you... ...all mothers bar one particular one looked upon as sinners
Maybe you should have chosen Judaism if you wanted the mother on a pedestal thing?
stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treating t
I'm 18, so being 10 years older than these children; I have grown up in roughly the same environment as these children. However my childhood may be described so similar to one that grew up probably 20 years (or more) before me. In terms of play I'd have to stress that playgrounds are one of the most important feature in the world we are in today, where I used to live we had a great playground and my parents would have no problem with us walking out of our house only coming back if we were hungry or thirsty sometimes we wouldn’t come back until very late. We had loads of green space, and you may find it hard to believe but we were in the heart of London. We'd go roaming with friends always in a big enough group and even reached Croydon on some of our ventures, I was about the same age as these children but I was very aware of strangers and cars, and I may be wrong but I will put it down to watching the 10 o'clock news with the family talking about each event as it appeared on the screen, such as Steven Lawrence, or James Bulger, and so I was in the know, nothing was hidden.
More to the point, in this society today people strive to have their children like little adults. Everyone does it and everyone likes something about it. Whether it’s dressing your child up like a young businessman, or a mini 50cent, or more commonly seeing whose child eats best at a table!! That’s an adult thing... the whole point of eating for a child is getting messy and exploring food in a fun way to them, it may not look pleasing, but who cares its a child, and now we are faced with the fact that kids wont eat veggies. You tell a child 'it's good for your health', or 'its not got any e-numbers' ... they don’t care! And if that’s the kind of approach you take, they are not adults so don’t talk 2 them like adults or like they are supposed to understand a word that comes out of your mouth. Children don’t like to have 'intelligent' conversation like adults they would rather talk about the wonders of poo.
Furthermore, all children have to many rights. You cant do this to them you cant do that, and the one that I personally am facing now is the idea that once I’m 18 I’m and adult! No its not true, but I am lucky that I have people around me that can keep me level headed until I do reach full maturity, I'm on my way but I am not there yet, and the idea of being plunged into a world where you can do anything from being regimented, is slightly to much for a lot of 18 yr olds to bare, concluding in binge drinking etc. but this is just one young ladies opinion.
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
Children demand what they want.
When do adults learn the difference between what they want and what they need.
When should nurturing begin?
What goals should parents have for their children?
How do you nurture your child to become a healthy, emotionally balanced adult capable of committment to a loving, stable, enduring partnership?
How many adults are better at passing on their faults and failings because their own parents failed to nurture them to their full potential.
Life seems to be made up off a lot of difficult challenges that some parents feel children should be shielded from so that they can have a "happy" childhood. Let's face it sitting in a nest takes less effort than flying around in a cold sky.
Parents have the wisdom of their years of experience which they might choose to use to help them guide and prepare their children for the difficult times their children are likely to face in the future.
Parents are too often ready to sacrifice their children's best interests due to lack of effort.
"stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treating them like adults!"
The above seems to be about issues relating to a child who is unhappy with their childhood.
Should it follow that children should be repressed or just ignored if they want to grow up early? What is too early? Is too late better or worse?
Treating them as adults should happen as soon as they start thinking like adults... ...which might be quite early as most adults tend to think like children.
If after 18 years of proper mentoring I were not ready yet then perhaps I'd be angry that someones been wasting my time?
Then again I might not have been listening.
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
want versus need? in childhood hopefully if not by parenting by positive role models who demonstrate self discipline.
when should nurturing begin? prior to pregnancy, the discussion of the concept of what you want for a child is the first real steps into being a decent parent... there is no perfect and no two families are ever the same but the second a woman knows she is pregnant or plans to become pregnant the THOUGHT of parenting should begin.
How to nurture?
Trust your instincts and remember you are the adult... be loving, listen and notice the great stuff your children do... don't cow tow to authorities who "know better" health visitors, teachers are there to support YOU not the other way around... they are servants so their judgements are only as effective as you allow them to be, if you relax, allow thought, love and acceptance be your guides even during the hard times your child will be ok.
REMEMBER YOUR CHILD IS A CHILD!!!! S/He does not have the capacity to understand an adults world - it is basic biology and survivalism at its best so when you're stressed it is YOU not the child at fault.
Don't expect to be perfect, apologise if you get it wrong - every parent loses patience but a sit down and explanation will enable your child to develope empathy and the acceptance that all people are human beings capable of fault.
there are many victims of inadequate parenting who are not informed that they were not at fault for having bad parents... ultimately they destroy their own futures by resigning themselves to being a victim... thus they also disturb their own children who then need to fight beyond the cages unloving parents put them into. However, I do think that the people who fight past their pasts are forgotten - the majority of people who live hellish childhoods make an active choice to change the cycle... there is no glory in living as a victim there is glory in being a hero and changing the cycle for the future of their own children.
I hope that answers your questions from my perspective
a survivor of an unloving and abusive family who has chosen to step beyond years of horror to bring up a wonderful family.
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
They'll probably be the judge of that when they're older
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
I agree with your comment totally, just saw the programme on bcciplayer and thought we wantt our kids to be adults to soon, what happen to being a young person or child. I remebr that when I was a child I was given some freedom and to do what I felt with boundries but today it is very much like authoritetrian. less about dailgoue and more about directed action which does not help young people or children, My wife is similar to this but for me I let my daughter explore although she is 1and a half, I allow her freedom while my wife is more based around directed action and not allwoing her to things on her own.
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
Please don't take this as anything but a compliment, what a exceedingly level headed18 year old you are. Your kids will I hope be brought up in the right environment and for that I thank the good lord - testimony I think that you were parented! What wonderful news :-)
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
I'LL SECOND THAT !!! More mature parenting please. This girl has obviously been loved too, that's why she's so mature and unpretentious.
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
What is an "adult"?
What is a "child"?
What innate, culturally unbiased foundations do these categories have as discontinuous with each other, or valid?
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
Children come from adults. In order for a child to develop into a mature adult it has to receive the input of mature adults. There is no 'discontinuity', only interdependence.
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
So, if there is no discontinuity, why do we use the terms as if they were fundamentally different things (essentialism)? If categories are to be used for practical purposes, should we be using terms that acknowledge the lack of real discontinuity between children and adults, i.e. "young people"?
How long has "child" existed? Many have opined that there was no such concept until after the middle ages.
Re: stop allowing children to grow up too early, and stop treati
I'd guess it's just another word for 'young person'. Like many words in the English language it has only come to have a negative connotation due to the way in which children are treated by many. It's not the word but how it is used and the attitude it is associated with.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
Everything highlighted in the discussion simply backs up the Montessori method of learning. Why oh why is Montessori not adopted in mainstream schools more?
I have been weighing up whether to continue driving my child 25 minutes to the nearest Montessori school when he finishes pre school and having to go back to work just to pay his school fees (and his younger sister) rather than taking him to the local primary school which our garden backs on to. I had more or less persuaded myself that both my children would be ok at the local school - after watching last night I'm back to what I know to be correct - that Montessori makes so much sense and I'm afraid mainstream teaching leaves a great deal to be desired.
Lucie
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I enjoyed the discussion this evening, although missing the first half. I have 3 boys -13, 9, and 7 months. I am one of the few parents I know who lets my children have a free rein on their time with certain boundaries in relation to their health and sleep/rest requirements. I have watched them push their own boundaries where they have then learnt to set self-restraint, e.g. BMXing, climbing where they shouldn't, etc. I have over time learnt to not be an anxious parent when my children are out of sight as I feel their experiences of playing outside with other children or even hanging out at the local green watching the world go by is so important to their psychological health and the benefits of them having this freedom offsets the fear of the rare paedophile encounter. This in itself is distorted due to the media - the facts actually are that a child is probably in more danger indoors than out, possibly groomed by an older sibling, a step parent, an aunt/uncle or a close friend of the family. I've made my boys aware of paedophillia and explained that its the over friendly male older teenager who perhaps gives or buys them things that they need to be wary of. I get to hear all of what they get up to and they tell me their secrets! This is how I think best to keep track of your kids - LISTEN AND GIVE YOUR TIME when they choose to talk to you - this is the time they'll listen to you if you want to be heard. I think they tend to take my advice (Unadmittingly of course!) most of the time which in turn keeps them safe enough. I tell my 13 yr old I'm phoning him just to check that he is safe - not to actually check up on him. I ask my 9 yr old to come back at least every 45 minutes "so that I know he's alright". With this freedom sometimes they get fed up of being out and come in and have a chat of use the computer for up to an hour - no big deal - it's in the living area so we get to check on what they're playing - if it looks unhealthy we tell them this and to get off and "give it a rest!" This way they learn to see signs within themselves when they're not really enjoying being on the computer but hooked on some "waste of space" addictive type game. My 13 yr old mentioning about the PSP his dad bought him (my ex-husband) said he doesn't bother with it because it makes him dizzy! I thought this was good self-awareness for a 13 yr old!
We don't have a PS3 and only 1 computer for all of us. Boys have TV's in their rooms which they are allowed to watch and they enjoy documentaries (and comedy/humour) - this was how I got to watch this progranmme - my 9 year old was watching it with interest when I went to say goodnight!
The point is children know whats best for them and know what they need and when they need it - parents just need to listen to their children - parents don't need to get anxious they just need to relate well with their children thereby being in tune with them. The rest will follow.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
Your children are suffering being in a single parent home.
You are responsible for not making your relationship last with their father and they are coping with that by taking on their parenting needs for themselves and probably parenting you more than you them.
You sound as if you have capitulated your parental duty to use your greater wisdom to guide your children on the basis that at 13 they KNOW what is best for them and they know what they NEED.
Chuck a few seeds in the garden open a bottle of wine thats the vegetable garden sorted.
I feel concern for you but even more for them.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
As an educational professional, I do get tired of hearing that the national curriculum is overloaded and the implication that it has to be taught in a dreary and ineffective way, - and that assessment somehow constrains lively teaching and learning. I am old enough to remember why the national curriculum was introduced - because there was such a variety of quality across schools and children's learning, and although the highs inspired children admirably, the lows were very low. Pre-national curriculum, very good schools had lively, interactive curriculums, providing opportunities to learn in depth in creative and interesting ways. But many less confident/inspired/open-minded teachers found working in such a way very difficult. Many less able headteachers found it difficult or undesirable to move the skills of their staff forward - not really knowing what was possible. I felt that the national curriculum schemes of work were a serious attempt to spread good practice, though some of these efforts admittedly 'died on the page' - it is not always easy to communicate in print conducive atmospheres and enthusiasms for teaching and learning. Like all 'recipes for action', outcomes vary widely. The boring teaching that fails to engage pupils cannot be blamed on the curriculum.....only the methods of interpretation chosen by the schools. The breadth of the curriculum is challenging but wise schools know where to focus their skills for the maximum benefit of their pupils and what to leave in the shade. Too many schools appear to hide behind the testing excuse, giving too much boring practice of skills taught badly, therefore not learned well, therefore more repetition needed. Often assessment is in fact too little not too much. Accurate assessment is vital to well-focused teaching and learning - not often (but sometimes) via formal, timed tests. Blandly following a set scheme of work without knowing fully what pupils already know is not good or interesting teaching and therefore learning.
Accountability in such a vitally important sphere of society as the education of its children is definitely necessary but will always have its critics. Nevertheless I know that what schools are offering pupils in the primary phase, where my experience lies, has moved forward light years over the past ten to fifteen years. This multitude of improvements is not always apparent in tests, though the basic picture certainly is. Changes in testing systems in an effort to improve reliability or to focus better on specific elements of learning seem to have distorted the statistical comparison of results over the years. The answer to problems of boring teaching and learning is not to remove statutory assessment - the boring schools will carry on being boring, and probably multiply with less accountability, serving children's needs less well. The inspection system, locally and nationally, needs to be able to identify more accurately where schools successfully involve pupils in successful dynamic enjoyable learning. The Every Child Matters agenda, introduced in 2005, has made a start on this but inspections have reduced so much in size and scope that attendion to such elements can only be cursory.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I enjoyed the programme and it has made me think hard about the lives that my children have. Like many I am a working mother and I just don't know how to fit everything in to give my children the best chance of happiness. I work to be able to afford to provide a pleasant home and give my children opportunities in life. I changed career and became a teacher so that I could try to fit my work around them. My children do some structured acitivities but I try to keep a limit to how many. I try to get to them bed early becasue I know that they need sleep to function well. We have meal times together and I try to engage them in interesting conversation relevant to thier lives. I would like for them to play outside alone. I am not particularly bothered about the threat of abduction or paedophiles (although I was the subject of a sexual attack aged 8, 32 years ago when playing in the park without an adult), but I live in a town very close to busy roads. I value the role of the extended family and like to regularyly spend time at weekends with different members who live in reasonable proximity. I limit the ammount and content of TV/computer games. But depite all my efforst I suspect that if my children were filmed, especially on a school day, they would have very little time for play. I can see how important this is but how do I fit it into our lives?
Having watched the programme I will make changes. I will give my children more freedom than they have had to roam. I will try to spend more time at home and just let them 'be' but I am not sure I can do it alone. I think I need help from government and society.
Working hours in this country have to come down, we need a more balanced approach to life. There needs to be a reduction in competitive parenting, does it matter if my child is not a fluent french speaking, ballet dancing, violin playing, olympic swimmer?
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I have been watching your programme with great interest I just wanted to thankyou,I work as a Playworker and many of the topics covered tonight are things which us rare breed of people have been banging on about for a long time,playworkers are often over looked we aren't seen as child professinoals.. more like "glorified babysitters",we see the importants of play and taking risks, many children have more of a connection with playworkers than maybe their teachers and sometimes their own families.i
Re: Revolution In Childhood
once again i understand why the programme was aired but are we forgetting the 30,000 children that are physicallyand mentally abused and dont have the luxuary of any of the game console, clothing or the things that most children have, we talk about children having to much pressure, to much tv and not sitting at the table to eat, shouldnt we be doing more for the children in this situation than the once that have some or most of these items. the experts in this programme i admire but lets look at the real world where children are battered and ignored lets talk about these children that cant talk for them selfs or are we a society that hides it away and puts issues about tv and clothing as priority, lets get the experts and all the goverment together and sort the issues that are more inportant rather than should children have tests or watch tv or play on the games, i am not saying that these problems are not important but come on 30,000 abused children is a real issue, these children would love to have a new pair of shoes or a old game station. the show was interesting but most parent know the problems, so lets get together and help children especially the poor and the neglected, the abused and the silent.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I watched this programme for the first time today, and found it very interesting, particularly around the discussion of perceived risk and the debate around video games.
I think that there has been an explosion in risk awareness, not just with parenting, but with all areas of our lives and the way in which we conduct ourselves. I believe that a certain proportion of this has to be directed to the media, as we are now more than ever "aware" of the risks that we face in everyday life. Ratings and competition means that supposedly 'factual' news programmes are sensationalised in order to obtain a higher percentage of viewers. I do not believe that children face a higher level of risk now than they did 50 years ago. The only thing that has changed is our attitude towards it.
With regards to video gaming, I think the experts handled this subject rather well - it is in some cases the parents that need educating in the technology in order to understand how their children interact with it. Perhaps some parents should sit down and enjoy a video game or two with their children. Certainly children with autistic spectrum disorders may benefit from playing video games as the pressures of socialising can sometimes be too great, and indeed tiring to some. Video games also promote hand-eye coordination, problem solving, and some studies have shown that IQ has increased due to the more sophisticated technologies that children are exploring.
I think that we commonly live in a society where people feel that they need to be instructed and guided on how to live. Society no longer has confidence in its own abilities and supposedly natural things like parenting are now another area in which we as adults "fail".
Re: Revolution In Childhood
i watched the programme an enjoyed, some elements i wasnt so sure about . what about the children from families that are not bothered and kick the children out early in a morning till late at night, also some children do learn from the tv, i agree to much is bad for them but also it can be educational. the experts should set up together and get the goverment to meet with them and explain to them what we need to do in todays society. the pressure on children today is to much we dont let them have a chilhood . this programme should be aired at prime time on bbc1 and also have a audience to give the views of the person in the street, we also need more parenting classes. the show was great
Re: Revolution In Childhood
What nuts this talk about bad behaviour being the fault of bad parenting.
Have you clocked what goes on in the 'big brother' household?
I have been in close confines with other people(who I have not 'chosen' to be with), and found it extremely difficult to be myself. You end up feeling suffocated and desperate to employ the personality you have subjugated.
I would say notional 'bad behaviour' at home is NORMAL behaviour, anything else is a bit weird I'm afraid. Children of 7 and 8 are meant to question and get stroppy aren't they, don't they have a hormone surge at this time?
Our daughter didn't have a tantrum until she WENT to school at 4 yrs.
Do you not think that the reason children might be more 'badly behaved' at home than at school is because they feel safe and secure to 'let go' at home? My daughter spends 7.5 hours a day with other children, many of whom have squabbles in the playground or classroom. The teacher, if they are brilliant(like my daughter's teacher) knows how to handle these difficulties and sorts out these incidents. The children then have to get on with 'learning' and their personal feelings don't affect the day-to-day running of the class. At home that is not the case, they are not 1 in 20 or 30, they are 1 in 2 or 3 or 4 children and are able to affect the running of the place. i.e, they think they have more power.
However, I do believe some parents are not just frightened of saying 'NO' to their children, they think it might cause untold mental damage to ever forbid an action, food, drink, event etc.
I am happy with not being my daughter's best friend. I love her to bits but she needs me to guide her and teach and listen to her and overall I have to be in control, because I know better.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I agree with comments that the view was of a fairly narrow range of backgrounds but this type of program is restricted by time and resources (only so many people you can film and less than an hour to discuss) and I think it handled it well within scope. Perhaps another program on how childhood differs across cultures and backgrounds would be a great follow-on.
As for how to tackle deprived and unsafe childhood - I think that's a totally different question, the program seemed to be looking at how we're aspiring to bring up our children and whether we have the right objectives. The point where this seems to touch is in the area of safety - I'm sure many of us feel that if we gave our children the same freedom to roam at an early age we would be charged with neglect if something happened.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I wondered what people made of the balance between planned/scheduled activities (clubs, sports, etc) and informal play? Is it fair to say that things like tennis clubs, cubs/scouts, etc aren't play? I can see the value for imagination for informal play - but there seems to me to still be lots of valuable benefits from playing sports etc... surely?
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I don't think that the program was suggesting that there was no value in sports or formal play of any type - but there was a push to compare structured/adult lead time from unstructured/child led time. If we remove all unstructured time then we reduce the opportunities to make our own decisions and be creative and whether it maters or not I think it's worth discussing.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I have just caught the second half of tonight's programme and was sorry to have missed the beginning. I was impressed with the studio of well-respected professionals expressing the concerns and anxiety of many parents in such an articulate and coherent fashion. Can somebody tell me why the government does not listen to these people? Our children are living ridiculously stressed lives - formal education far too early, test after test, closeted indoors, endless clubs/activities. They need time to breathe and just be themselves.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I totally agree. My son started school at 4 yrs 3 mnths and has struggled ever since. The system is to worried about Ofsted results(which are not worth the paper there written on) rather then the general well being and happiness of the children
Re: Revolution In Childhood
Watching this, and indeed reading many articles about childhood and school in general, made me feel very happy about our decision to home educate our children.
I wasn't impressed with the constant pressure on my little four year old, the lack of love shown towards them (not allowed touching/hugging etc) and the general stifling of young children at such an early age, even to the point of when they go to the toilet and how quickly they have to eat their lunch.
It is a joy to have my children playing happily outside for hours, and learning in a very natural way, the way they do before they even go to school. Also because the rest of their day is so unstructured, they love their many hobbies and activities.
I think its a great shame that so many children are leading such pressured and unhappy childhoods- it goes so very quickly. The home ed children we meet up with regularly are all so free of the pressures of what they should be "into", the latest fashion, and so on. They have such a love of learning too.
Interesting program. More debate would have been good tho
Sussex
Re: Revolution In Childhood
Structured activities and play are two completely different things, one requires concentration and one imagination therefore each has its role but they can never be interchanged.
If you give a child a lego kit and ask him/her (why are they primarily thought of as a boys product) to make the item from the plans little imagination is involved. Just give a box full of bits to make anything they like and imagination comes to the fore.
My own youngest child suprised me the way he took to audio books despite being exposed to the videos favoured by his slightly older siblings. Audio books allow far more imagination to come out as he has to work out what the scenes might be for himself without the added complication of working out what the words are if he was reading it himself. This is not to say he did not read as well.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
Hi
I dont actually have any children of my own but im 22 & have 3 younger sisters 1 who is 18 & the other 2 are 6 & 8.
I have been watching the programmes with great curiosity as i take an avid role in there upbringing as my mum is disabled & cant do as much for the younger ones now as she did for us olders ones when we were younger.
I do agree that children spend far to much time in front of a screen of some sorts be it a computer of tv but i also agree that this can be very educational.
When my sisters are on the computer it is always supervised as i feel there is far to many weirdos in the world that are only a click away but also with that, I feel it is also a very useful tool that children now have access to as there is a world out there that i as a child never even knew existed. They also enjoy watching nature programmes on tv & enjoy going to safari parks & country parks. They are also very good talkers they never feel they cant tell at least one of us if anything is wrong.
I do feel though that my two younger sisters have had a bit of an advantage with having to older sisters through education & play. As they do alot more about there surroundings than most children there age. They are not allowed to venture to far from the house but they are not wrapped in cotton wool either.
I know that a few children in there years at school are molly coddled & find this totally unfair. As i child i remember bein free to do more or less as i pleased to a certain extent but i see children now a days being screamed at by parents the minute they step out of the gate
When i was younger i can never remember hearing about drugs or abductions although they happened we were sheltered slightly from them & this is what we do with the girls its to much at a young age for them to be taking in.
My sisters are happy care free girls who have accidents many a time iv been sitting in A&E because they have fallen of there skates or bikes the same as me when i was younger.
The way that some children are being dragged up these days scares me. These days should be the happiest days of any ones life & i think that the way some parents act & push children into being "young adults" is ruining this.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I would like to make several points:
1) spending time talking to your children. The panellists agreed that it is detrimental to a child not to talk to them but surely it is also hugely sad not to do so. These are interesting people who live in our homes and offer a very different perspective on life. We're the ones who lose out by avoiding conversations.
2) spending too much money on toys. My son is perhaps the only child in his class who doesn't have any computer games or gameboys etc - though he does sometimes play games on sites such as CBBC. We talked about it in a cool-headed way and I explained that we just wouldn't be in a position to spend that much money on a birthday present - forty pounds would be a maximum budget. He accepted the explanation and, far from feeling any sense of grievance, I think he's quite proud to be different. Parents agonise over the pressure to buy presents but seem unable simply to tell their children that there is a budget for presents and that some things inevitably fall outside it. Similarly the mother whose daughter was watching raunchy pop videos (at the age of eight!) worried that they were too explict for her and seemed to feel that someone else has the responsibility to tone them down. Actually the responsibility is hers: she needs to explain that the programmes are not made for someone as young as her daughter, and not allow her to watch them.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I'm 18, so being 10 years older than these children; I have grown up in roughly the same environment as these children. However my childhood may be described so similar to one that grew up probably 20 years (or more) before me. In terms of play I'd have to stress that playgrounds are one of the most important feature in the world we are in today, where I used to live we had a great playground and my parents would have no problem with us walking out of our house only coming back if we were hungry or thirsty sometimes we wouldn’t come back until very late. We had loads of green space, and you may find it hard to believe but we were in the heart of London. We'd go roaming with friends always in a big enough group and even reached Croydon on some of our ventures, I was about the same age as these children but I was very aware of strangers and cars, and I may be wrong but I will put it down to watching the 10 o'clock news with the family talking about each event as it appeared on the screen, such as Steven Lawrence, or James Bulger, and so I was in the know, nothing was hidden.
More to the point, in this society today people strive to have their children like little adults. Everyone does it and everyone likes something about it. Whether it’s dressing your child up like a young businessman, or a mini 50cent, or more commonly seeing whose child eats best at a table!! That’s an adult thing... the whole point of eating for a child is getting messy and exploring food in a fun way to them, it may not look pleasing, but who cares its a child, and now we are faced with the fact that kids wont eat veggies. You tell a child 'it's good for your health', or 'its not got any e-numbers' ... they don’t care! And if that’s the kind of approach you take, they are not adults so don’t talk 2 them like adults or like they are supposed to understand a word that comes out of your mouth. Children don’t like to have 'intelligent' conversation like adults they would rather talk about the wonders of poo.
Furthermore, all children have to many rights. You cant do this to them you cant do that, and the one that I personally am facing now is the idea that once I’m 18 I’m and adult! No its not true, but I am lucky that I have people around me that can keep me level headed until I do reach full maturity, I'm on my way but I am not there yet, and the idea of being plunged into a world where you can do anything from being regimented, is slightly to much for a lot of 18 yr olds to bare, concluding in binge drinking etc. but this is just one young ladies opinion.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I'm sitting watching this programme as a teaching professional and wishing that parents and the government would listen to this panel of some of the world's leading experts on childhood.
To parents I would ask that you talk more to your children, not just about what they did at school today, but about their interests and frindships, about the news and the world. PLEASE take TVs and games consoles out of children's rooms where they do so much damage. Read Sue Palmer's book Toxic Childhood.
To the government PLEASE PLEASE change the assessment system/curriculum in primary. Help teacher's get back to what they know to be right instead of creating a system where children are tested every year from Y2 to Y6 and in many schools, every half term from Y2 -6!! Change the curriculum so that it focuses on learning and skills development instead of knowledge. All of the latest research on brain based learning clearly shows that it is through dialogue that many children learn best, yet we have a curriculum that is so overloaded that teacher's are forced to shovel knowledge into children's heads.
This panel really do know what they are talking about but so few people are listening.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
The high stakes assessment system currently in place as you point does our young learners very few favours and in my view pressurises parents who feel they too must focus on skills, buying for example SATs revison guides for 6 year olds! and worrying about achievement levels and numbers , creating, or adding to the competetive ethos already in place...
But peoplel are beginning to listen- Robin Alexander's recent Primary Review( the independent one in which a range of consultnats and academics are collecting data and offering research reviews to inform a new curriculum) shows that many parents are concerned about this testing culture.
As professionals we too can talk up and out- sharing our views with those who will listen and creating in our classroom contxts the kind of creative and imaginatively enaging curriculum which we know the children deserve and which will in time lead to higher standards and to children who can and DO choose to read for example.Children who want to learn and who take risks, play are confident and abel to cope with the unceratinty of living in the 21st century.
Hold fast your position and be confident your experience as a professional has taught you much, which you have a responsibility to share. Teresa
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I sort of agree with you, but sort of don't... I agree the curriculumn is overloaded, and I agree that the annuals tests are a nightmare for the kids & teachers BUT I also feel there is a role for checking that children are making progress - at least as much to highlight the weaker teachers who need to improve (or perhaps even need to get out of teaching) as to highlight which children are falling behind and need support.
I think the problem here is that results are generally only published at the end of each key stage - yearly results would shift the focus (at least in part) away from individual children and onto value added by each year. Most schools give the last year of key stage the best teachers who give the kids a huge push as the head towards the SATS, the teachers in the other year groups have less pressure on them and as a result sometimes children make far less progress than they could/should and in turn put even more pressure on the teacher at the end of the next key stage to make up for the slacking off in the preceeding years.
Hmm - I think I might be getting close to ranting mode - best stop!
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I have been watching part of this programme with frustration.
I agree that what children do has changed, and Tania is right that we have to allow children to explore new horizons on the internet with parental control.
But I am sick and tired of hearing that children spend too much time in front of screens.
Many children also spend a lot of time taking part in activities outside, but this programme did not give enough facts and figures to give a balanced view on this issue.
Also, we constantly hear advice to ask children open questions. I swallowed this hook line and sinker when my son was younger. The result? Only 6 months into school, aged 4 he said "Mummy will you stop asking me how was school today? I dont want to say what I have done every day. Most of it was boring - ok?" (nb he is very articulate, and sociable - definitely no Autistic spectrum tendencies)
I think this comment is a reflection of:
1. parents being too keen to "do the right thing" ie showing constant interest in their child's perspective
2. Schools too keen to "achieve" and pushing children in a way that is not stimulating (I might add that he was at a lovely little school, and I did not move him, because there was nowhere better).
3. Maybe we are trying to educate our children from too young an age? My sons school performance actually improved when he took part in more activities that took him out of regular lessons in the school day
If our children are watching TV, playing console games or on computers more than other EU countries is it because they actually need the downtime away from all the structured school associated activities? Or is it just a reflection of the way we increasingly package our daily lives into ordered blocks?
No proven theories here from me - just a few ideas to throw in the melting pot.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
I thought the programme was extremely interesting and thought provoking. I have always struggled with the National Curriculum (my son is now in Year 6 of a one form entry local JMI&nursery school). It frustrates me that our Government seems to think that to 'raise standards' children need to have more and more 'stuff' to learn. I believe that a good proportion of them are actually less likely to achieve because there is just too much diversity and less time spent on the basics. An article this week in The Guardian suggested that A level Maths is now less challenging than ten or twenty years ago. Maybe the 'Numeracy' curriculum should be looked at again so that children in primary education are confident and comfortable with the basics (times tables being a prime example) and leave the intricacies of Venn diagrams, graphs, bar charts etc until they are in secondary school. The number of different methods provided for simple mathematical functions can confuse even fairly confident children.
I am a strong believer in the fact that children do not all learn at a constant rate and this should be recognised and taken into account. There appears to be little evidence that children introduced to reading very early improves their performance. In fact, those who learn to read at the age of 6 or 7 usually pick it up fairly fast. Those who don't, need one to one help which is often not available for long enough to make a difference (teachers and teaching assistants having more than a full time job covering the curriculum with the remainder of the class and filling in innumerable assessment sheets) and consequently some slip further and further behind their peers as they go up the school.
The main aims of a primary school should be to give children the opportunity to learn how to get on with others across the age ranges, to learn to read, write legibly, have confidence with numbers and play a lot more sport than is currently included. Anything extra is a bonus. The practice of stopping children from doing PE/ going out to play at break/dinner time as a punishment for bad behaviour or misdemeanors appears to be counter-productive, particularly in the case of boys. I suggested to our Head that I would prefer for my son to be sent to run around the running track ten times or do press ups. It's possible she thought I was joking. I wasn't.
IT skills - it is now necessary to show that schools are providing IT down to Nursery level. Schools that don't will find that pupils will go elsewhere (and pupils mean cash). I am from a generation that, even as an adult, computers were enormous machines kept in dust free environments which we went to look at and be amazed. And yet I have been able to learn to use a computer despite not being introduced to it at the age of 4.
One of our Governing Body said that he wanted to start a political party that was called the 'We won't interfere in education' party. Yes please.
Who are my heroes? Ted Wragg, Gervase Phinn (someone who can communicate with children without patronising them), Camila Batmangehlidjh (?spelling) - and tonight's panel of course.
Re: Revolution In Childhood
A bit disappointing to say the least. The whole panel discussion and case study seemed to be hopelessly lost in Middle-England, with no alternative thinking or consideration of other cultures. One culture within one country is not enough, when you come to evaluate a concept as variable and questionable as childhood. Given the focus on *problems* in childhood, such a narrow focus was also less than advisable. This is surprisingly limited for an OU production.
I would have also been pleased to see more disagreement and debate, as opposed to the pool of media-made "experts" we got today. Tanya Byron in particular has proven to be nothing special; when not parroting the establishment line on matters of childhood or associated sexualisation/moral panic contrivances, she can be observed consciously confounding her "psychological" investigations with personal biases - in a way that really cannot be excused. And then we had the "literary" expert, whose vocabulary did not reach much further than "saaaad" and "pitiful". These people - I would hesitate to call "experts" on anything. The panel needed a bit of grit, real life experience, or at least critical analysis.
We were, as a result of this, left with the same old stale thinking as regards childhood. No application of critical analysis, deconstruction, cross-cultural and historical perspectives in an attempt to better understand childhood, why and how it was conceived, and alternative constructions. Just the lazy, piggish, adultist assumption of authoritarian models, based upon nothing but principles of reactionism, status-quo dis-empowerment of young people and rationalisations based upon unstable, subjective, stereotypical observations. It is said that children appreciate boundaries, with absolutely no attention paid towards the factors of adult-subjectivity, dis-empowerment of youth or the alternative possibility that with no reason to resist authority, the kids would prefer it be structured and predictable.