Dolphins at war – and other gems from CBBC

There’s, quite rightly, a strong view that kids’ stuff should be avoided when working with adults with learning disabilities. And this is a theme, and a tension, that was covered in the previous post about creative communication.

So I’ve been very slow off the mark to check out the BBC’s kids’ website – CBBC. Sarah finally nudged me into having a look and…. it is of course really superb! For example, it’s got a great feature on how animations are made, based on their programme Animal School.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/cartoons/making/

There’s a small feature about the lovely lovely Gemma Hunt who was the presenter/interviewer/interviewee at the Mediazone last month:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/backstage/cbbc_stars/gemma.shtml

 Probably the most relevant part of the CBBC website is the news section – Newsround. Really wonderful. We know from the BBC’s research, Not Seen, Not Heard, that many adults with learning disabilities watch Newsround and it’s got all sorts of interesting and helpful features. For example, which of us can say hand on heart we really know what’s going on in Iraq, even if we have strong views about Britain’s involvement in the war. Here’s a manageable way of finding out! The main ‘guide’ has these sections:

Guide to Iraq

• Why is it in the news so much?
• History
• Who’s in charge of Iraq now?
• Why is there still violence?
• How many foreign soldiers are in Iraq?
• What was the war about?
• Did everyone agree with the war?
• Has the war finished?
• Who is Saddam Hussein?
• Saddam’s capture and trial
• Abuse of Iraqis
• Abuse allegations – what happened
• Did UK soldiers mistreat prisoners?
• Have only prisoners been mistreated?

There’s a photo gallery, wisely consisting of pictures of Iraqi kids. They all feature aspects of daily life in a war-torn country, but showing kids surviving, coping – and playing football. This seems perfect to illustrate both the gulf and commonality of experiences with UK kids.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_4360000/newsid_4369800/4369887.stm

Predictably, I loved the feature on Animals at War, which includes the role of dophins and sealions!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/animals/newsid_2888000/2888797.stm

But the most impressive feature is the one on what to do if the news upsets you:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_2330000/newsid_2333800/2333893.stm

Kids (and adults…) can even get Newsround headlines delivered on their mobile phones. How cool is that??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_3580000/newsid_3584000/3584041.stm