Hush little baby, don’t say a word

Childcare worker Kelly Royds has introduced an interactive learning site called Short Reporters (only accesible to staff and students), which allows interested children at North Newtown Primary to contribute everything from jokes and articles to pictures of SpongeBob SquarePants.

“The aim of the online network is to provide children with a safe and supervised space in which they can share ideas, upload writing and talk about the media” says Royds. “At the moment the Short Reporters are writing critical reviews about why they don’t like Hannah Montana and Dora the Explorer, so they’re beginning to think about the media in a more critical way.” Here children are writing for children - if only we could extend this so they were heard by adults too.

So often there is outrage about the sexualisation of children, the violence in video games and the Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen-inspired trend towards materialism. As soon as Baby develops speech and shows some sign of engaging with the world, parents lather themselves into a panic about any form of media informing their lives. “Objectification!” they cry, “Contamination of young minds!” What they must realise is that “media” (as synonymous with “culture” or “entertainment”) is far too big to bring down with protests about content or social trends.

As technology gets fancier, media is only going to gain momentum - so the most viable option we have is to equip children with the skills to deconstruct media messages. If we cannot hide our children from the media, we may as well teach them to understand it properly and then let them loose on it.

If only we could credit children with being intelligent enough to comment on news stories, to know the difference between right and wrong, fact and fantasy. Perhaps then we may not only realise that it is necessary and just for children to participate actively in news stories, but that often their perspective is clearer and savvier than our own.