Toddlers put to the test
IF YOU’RE a toddler growing up in London you’re apparently less likely to use the words “thank you” and “sorry” than kids in almost any other part of Britain. And how do I know this for sure? To be honest, I don’t. Nobody does. I’m just reporting one of the findings of a new survey on child development, featured in a documentary series starting tonight.
Presented by paediatrician Dr Guddi Singh (right), BABIES: THEIR WONDERFUL WORLD (BBC2, 9pm) is based on the results of an ambitious scientific study with more than 200 under-twos having been taken to its “specially designed baby lab” and used for “a series of pioneering experiments”.
Put like that, it sounds rather chilling but all it really means is that various smiley boffins have been carrying out potentially revealing little tests, hoping to learn more about how babies develop in their first two years.
And, yes, toddlers’ use of language is obviously a big part of all this. The survey actually broadened its horizons for this bit, asking 2,000 families nationwide to record the first words their infants utter. “Mama” and “Dada”, or subtle variations on those, rather predictably topped this popularity list, although “Peppa” gave them a pretty good run for their money.
Elsewhere on the programme we’re told that babies’ contrasting reactions to a range of different experiences, even when they’re less than six months old, can tell us an awful lot about the kind of temperaments they’ll display as grown-ups.
It’ll be one of three, apparently, namely: (a) excitable, (b) calm or (c) cautious. Who knew we were quite so conveniently categorisable?
The babies were placed in high chairs and then shown a variety of attention-grabbing things – a jack-in-the-box, a somersaulting toy dog, a researcher approaching them in a clown mask – and did indeed demonstrate very different responses.
However, none reacted to the clown mask in the manner I’d have done, namely by screaming in terror and alerting social services.
Elsewhere tonight, another new documentary series WARSHIP: LIFE AT SEA (Channel 5, 9pm) meets the crew of the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan as it embarks on a sevenmonth deployment to the Mediterranean and Black Sea.
Among them is 18-year-old Owen, for whom this will be a whole new experience. “This is my first time at sea,” he tells us. “I’ve never been abroad in my life. I’ve been to Wales but that doesn’t really count…” The programme makers actually struck lucky with this, timing-wise, because the mission they’ve been given permission to film is about to become quite eventful. This is mostly thanks to the Russians who, upon learning of the arrival of this and three other NATO warships in the region, decide to dispatch a vessel of their own. You’ll notice it’s not decked out with bunting. On a more comforting note, Navy chef Liam Fletcher’s food seems to be going down well, particularly with one crew member. “Those sausages were banging!” she tells him. “They were like Wall’s…”