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Said Hamlet to Ophelia |
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Why don't you... by Jacqueline Alexander ...switch off your television and do something less boring? If you are a child of the seventies, you may have a vague memory of this oxymoronic title and the television programme that encouraged kids to get a life. Reports emerged this week that more than two hours of television viewing per day is detrimental to a child's health. Shock. Horror. This is not so much news as an act that Jiminy Cricket would be proud of. Mothers, as if they don't have enough to do, are now urged to feel guilt and remorse as they peek into the lounge to find their little cherub glued to the screen whilst they struggle to make five vegetables look attractive to a seven year old. It's never been easy to be a parent but these days it seems the barrage of information, advice and good intentions makes it a lot more difficult to relax and enjoy those all too rare moments when it seems like a breeze. I think we all know that too much television is a bad idea. As with most of these surveys, this week's 'findings' boil down to good old common sense. Children shouldn't fiddle with matches, shouldn't play on a busy road and shouldn't be exposed to hours upon hours of television - especially if it's a programme that could destroy their innocence - like the six o'clock news, for instance. This month sees a huge amount of National Days aimed at showing us exactly what else our kids could do if we could just get them away from the hypnotic powers of the magic box. Amongst the many celebrations are specific events including The Big Draw, National Children's Book Week, Learn to Sign Week and National Poetry Day.
Poetry doesn't always get a good press whilst the perhaps more glamorous cousin, the song lyric, seems to benefit from plaudits and praise. I was lucky enough to be introduced to the humour and the wonder of poetry at an early age. My Dad took it upon himself to scribe a poem summing up my priorities during my formative years:
Without going into the details of my eating habits, or revealing any other observations my father made, I was shown how poetry could take an everyday routine and transform it into a witty and memorable couplet.
It didn't take long to discover that there were other sources of amusement in the form of rhyme and Spike Milligan, whose poetry moves fluidly between the surreal and the sublime, indulged his love of the witty ditty to great effect.
Roald Dahl, famous for his children's books, was not averse to the occasional quatrain to extract a wry smile either.
Roald was actually right on the money with another, much longer, poem called simply 'Television'. I won't relay it in its entirety here but this snippet should give you the general idea,
So, with Mr Dahl's words and example in mind, it seems fitting to highlight one of the events built around both National Poetry Day and Children's Book Day which sees youngsters from all over the UK invited to compete in an annual poetry competition. You'll have to grab your pens and encourage the kids to harness their imagination quite quickly though; the closing date is 15th October. The theme for this year's competition is 'Dreams' and you can find out all the details at either nationalpoetryday.co.uk or childrenspoetrybookshelf.co.uk. If you have trouble motivating your little one to produce their best work, just let it slip that there's cash prize for each of the first, second and third placed poems. Schools are not left out either with books and memberships to the Poetry Society available to the schools of the winners. Once motivated, inspiration may be a problem, but you will find plenty to amuse, entertain and, by default, educate the younger minds at roalddahl.com. Unfortunately, the main page within the site is out of date but I have sent a message asking when this will be put right. Luckily, the rest of the site is a treasure trove of information and if you stick to navigating via the drop-down menu found under the 'glass elevator' you won't go far wrong (it's in the top left corner of each page). Filtering through the site, the reviews for Roald's Revolting Rhymes make excellent reading in themselves. The writers range from age three through to thirty three and older with the general consensus being that Roald scrapped the previous rules for writing for children and just gave it to them straight. And, apparently, children were delighted. Whilst interesting and entertaining, this site doesn't feature more than a smattering of Roald's works. For further reading, or to put it more enticingly, more laughter, take a peek at poemsabout.com. Just type in Roald Dahl (or Spike Milligan) and you will be treated to a range of poems from these wonderfully talented individuals. There are, of course, many more poets to browse through and you can search by author, title or theme. There should be enough here to inspire and, you never know, it may be the start of something big. Or at least enough to keep them amused for a while without the aid of a television. http://www.poemsabout.com/ http://www.nationalpoetryday.co.uk http://www.childrenspoetrybookshelf.co.uk/ http://www.roalddahl.com/ Jacqueline Alexander presents Web Watch every Tuesday at 5.45pm on BBC Radio Berkshire on 104.1FM, 104.4FM, 95.4FM, 94.6FM and DAB Digital Radio. To listen in, just visit http://www.bbc.co.uk/berkshire. |
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Designed and developed by Jacqueline Alexander
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