Writing and Media for Children

"Youth cannot know how age thinks and feels. But old men are guilty if they forget what it is to be young." --Albus Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

In his essay on Three Ways of Writing for Children, C.S. Lewis stated that for an author to write good children's literature, he must in essence be able to place himself into the child's point of view. He emphasized that this does not mean giving children what you perceive to be what they want. In such a case, not only is this perception dependent on your own view, but it also lacks the passion that would be put into the work had you picked a topic you felt strongly drawn toward. The key, Lewis says, is first determining whether children's literature is the best genre for your idea, then literally looking at your idea through a child's eyes and determining what they think of it. Additionally, Lewis emphasizes not to make the language or topic condescending, for children are serious people, as well.

This concept can very easily be applied to digital media. Part of the plight of today's television shows is that they either dumb things down (a la "Boohbah") or deal with serious topics inappropriately. I liked the approach taken by A.C.T., from what I gathered from the article. They realize that, though children are often capable of understanding much more than we give them credit for, television is simply not the place to discuss certain things. Though they advocate programming that broadens a child's horizon, they know a line must be drawn after a point. It's important to educate children, but some of that education needs to be reserved for the parent alone.

Lewis also speaks about how many adults think it unwise to let a child escape into a fantasy world, because they might begin to think of it as real life. He discredits this, saying that the danger often lies when fiction becomes so close to reality that children are unable to distingush one from the other. This is why I recommended to my mother (to no avail) to allow my young-teenaged siblings to read the Harry Potter series. I find the series a delight, an inspiration to a child's imagination, where good is clearly defined and continually conquers over evil. Unfortunately, most Christians write off the series because they declare that the books encourage children to practice witchcraft, or seek a power within themselves. In reality the books are loaded with Christian parables of love, sacrifice, and morality. Christians argue that the hero practices witchcraft, but most of the same group of Christians also find the character Merlin in Disney's The Sword and the Stone amusing and the movie worthwhile entertainment for their children.

Little Dog Turpie was a film that I thought a good example of fantasy that adults may think too dark for children. In the film, three very sinister-looking creatures sneak up, wanting to eat the little dog's mistress. He barks to alert his master, who grumpily comes out and cuts his tail off for disturbing his sleep. Turpie continues to bark even as his master continues to cut off his legs, then finally takes out an axe and removes his head from his torso. In this telling, the story sounds quite inappropriate for children, but the dog is still alive with his body parts severed almost as though he were a piece of machinery, and is in fact "put back together" at the end, driving home the idea of fantasy being removed from real life.

Speaking as an older sister, however, I would not want my second youngest sister, Maggie, watching this film. Maggie is a worrier, and would be lamenting the unjust punishment of the little dog and having nightmares about the creepy figures long after she watched the film. Maggie's worrying tendencies are a good example of how parents need to use their discretion with all films, and take C.S. Lewis's approach of looking at the work through the eyes of an individual child--their child, in such a case. For some children, fantasy is a lot closer to reality than adults may think.