Child
Of Our Time
Starts
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE, Tuesday 6 January 2004, 9.00pm
Professor
Robert Winston is back with Child Of Our Time, the unique Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ documentary
series which is following a group of 25 children and their parents
for the first 20 years of the childrens' lives.
Continuing
its epic journey, this series of three programmes focuses on the
children as they approach their fourth birthdays and launch themselves
into the world of pre-school.
In
the first programme of the three, Zero To Hero,
Lord Winston finds out if popular adults are marked out at this
early stage in life and if life's loners are already apparent.
He
shows how, at three years old, a child can go from bully to best
friend and uncovers if lying is a useful skill for a child to develop.
Surprisingly
perhaps, even at this young age the children are making decisions
about each other just like adults - for example, who they like,
who they think is fun and who they want to be friends with.
As
the children interact with others the programme examines what part
the diet can play in a child's behaviour and reveals how changing
diet can have an effect.
It
also examines what makes a child a loner and asks if a sense of
humour is likely to make a child more popular with peers.
Most
disturbingly, we see how children copy behaviour they witness on
video and in particular how they mimic aggression.
In
the second programme, Read My Lips, communication
is the focus. We learn how important it is for children to learn
effective communication in order to have a successful start in life.
We
see how children pick up language and the importance of communication,
both verbal and non-verbal.
Children
pick up on 'non-verbal leakage' or body language, and the programme
asks if children who are disadvantaged in language skills, either
because English is not their first language or there is an impediment,
compensate by developing other non-verbal skills of communication.
We
also learn if the parents are proficient at reading non-verbal messages
displayed by their children and how important it is for them to
be able to do so.
Also,
do parents pass on their methods of communicating to their children
and what influence does gender have on the ability to communicate
verbally?
The
final programme, The Making Of Me, Professor Winston
looks at the importance of self esteem.
Self
esteem is not something children are born with, but something they
acquire. The programme examines how a combination of genes and environment
helps give the children their sense of self worth.
A series
of tests performed by the children reveal how they measure their
own competency. But does confidence affect self esteem and is a
shy child necessarily going to have a lower level of self esteem
than his or her more extrovert playmates?
Finally,
we see how the way parents interact and communicate with their children
affects and influences how the children perceive their own worth.
Child
Of Our Time is a Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ production for Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ ONE.
The
series producer is Dinah Lord and the executive producer is Tessa
Livingstone.
All
the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's digital services are now available on ,
the new free-to-view digital terrestrial television service, as well
as on satellite and cable. Freeview
offers the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's eight television channels, interactive services
from Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔi, as well as 11 national Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ radio networks.
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