Having read hundreds of submissions to the ‘Supporting Australian Stories’ review of our screen sector, ACTF CEO Jenny Buckland noted the considerable support shown by educators for local children’s content.

In a recent blog piece, Jenny reflected on submissions by passionate educators including Anonymous 7, a Year 5/6 Teacher in a South Australian school. He says that he regularly uses Australian children’s programs in classrooms and that:

The high quality Australian children’s content that the Commonwealth Government invests in – shows like My Place, Little Lunch, Lockie Leonard, Little J and Big Cuz – are incredibly important to educators and the audience and stay in circulation in schools long after they go off air. The content should be considered as a long-term investment in Australian culture and the children’s audience, and not a short-term fad.

My Place

Stephen Breen, a school principal from Western Australia, spoke of years of experience with children in schools:

The social, emotional and academic needs of children are ideally suited to the film, TV and digital environment and are best developed through stories that children can relate to their everyday life and culture. These stories cannot be totally imported cheaply from across the world because relevance is a most important determinant for a young child to grasp the significance and importance of the concept. Who knows best about our Indigenous and multicultural uniqueness, our history or in fact, our language?

Support also came from peak teaching bodies including the Australian Literacy Educators Association (ALEA,) who said:

The issue of Australian content in children’s screen culture is an important one to our group and members. As educators we recognise the significant impact both positive and negative that screen time can have on our children. It is important that children have a positive sense of well-being, identity and culture and we believe that television has an important role to play in this space. It is of utmost importance that Australian children continue to have access to high quality television shows and series.

The Genie From Down Under

In their submissions, educators pointed out the immense value of Australian children’s content for our culture, our languages, and the social, emotional, and academic development of the child audience. What do you love about Australian kids’ TV?  

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