When I was a child I loved television. Really loved it. Often it was the only window on the real world that I had. It also opened up other worlds to me. It fed my imagination and fired many interests, some of which I still enjoy. Only today, as the October leaves danced on the wind, I was reminded of Hammy Hamster enjoying his first autumn day on the Riverbank. “Ooh, it makes me feel like running.” And I knew exactly what he meant.
I didn’t just watch television as a kid; I re-enacted the best bits in the playground, and left a trail of paper and glue around Mum’s kitchen. I watched television alone, but I shared it with my friends. Having that collective experience was like us all having a £ in our pocket. I know a couple of people my age that grew up without television: they’re no brighter than me, nor better read or fitter. But they tell me they were the ones standing on the edge of the playground and even now, they don’t seem to have the currency to join in fully.
Children need good television. Yes they do. They’re growing up in a fast moving technological world and they need to understand it. We learn and grow through play and through storytelling. Just as feeding a child a monotonous diet of kebabs would lead to a malnourished and poorly developed body, so feeding a child an endless diet of the same old formulaic telly stunts the imagination and twists the perspective. Children’s television has been allowed to become a market, where profit is the goal. Children deserve better. They need television that develops their personality and talents, encouraging them on the way to reaching their full potential and helping them understand their own culture and the world beyond. That’s what stories do.
Jayne Kirkham took up writing at the age of three with a blue crayon on the wall of a front porch. It is still her favourite style. Having spent much of her life working with children and young people, Jayne graduated from the London Institute in 2000 with an MA in Screenwriting. Her work has since been broadcast on Radio 4, CBBC, screened at Edinburgh Film Festival and BIFA nominated. When not writing and producing for Brown & Sticky Productions Ltd, or teaching screenwriting at the Northern Film School, Jayne is a youth activity worker and scout leader. She can often be found with young people messing about in kayaks or up mountains - sometimes at the same time.
