What you should know about radio plays
Younger children in particular should not spend too much time with media - this attitude is generally shared by experts and parents alike. However, it has become much more difficult to set time limits in recent years, as the media no longer function separately, but have merged into a single ensemble. Children can watch TV on the internet, listen to music on their smartphones or stream films on their games consoles. In addition, mobile devices make it possible for children and young people to escape time constraints.
Checking agreed times has become much more difficult for us. Only one thing hasn't changed: When it comes to regulating children's media consumption, the classic black-and-white thinking of our own parents often still prevails.
Roughly summarised, it looks like this: Books are good, television is bad. Video games are harmful, while audio games are okay. It is striking that parents always keep a particularly critical eye on their children's media consumption when a screen is involved.
Radio plays often offer children their first opportunity to operate technical media autonomously and make their own choices.
This attitude could be due to general warnings from paediatricians and brain researchers about screen media. However, it is much more likely that it has to do with our own socialisation. Even our own parents tended to be rather indignant when it came to television consumption, whereas there was no problem with audio cassettes playing in rickety recorders.
Immerse yourself in a world of sound
Audio plays and audio books often offer children their first opportunity to use technical media independently and to make their own choices according to their interests and mood - especially if they are not yet able to read. Audio CDs used to play a role, but now screen-free audio media has developed into a profitable market. Talking audio pens are selling in their millions.
With the successful cube-shaped Tonieboxes, the protagonist of a children's book becomes a haptic play figure with which the playback medium is operated. Voice assistants such as Alexa are also easy for young children to use on demand. Audio games also offer a pleasant side effect: they keep children in their room, even though they don't like being alone there. After all, they are not alone. Stories keep them company.
By reading aloud to children, we show them that we take time for them. These moments create closeness.
We all love stories that are funny, exciting or even a little scary, and listening to them makes us feel good. In radio drama series, for example, the setting always remains the same: the pleasant voices are familiar and the sounds, music and dramaturgy provide a strong atmospheric cloak.
In contrast to screen media, this creates its own images in the mind, which stimulates the imagination. The children immerse themselves in dream worlds, identify with the protagonists, develop empathy, let Lego figures experience variations of the story in role play or paint the corresponding figures.
It is also amazing that children can listen to a particular radio play over and over again. Because that is particularly nice for them: there are no nasty surprises, the end is known. This gives them security and a sense of home. The art of listening is also a very important skill, which is perhaps why we have few objections to audio media.
A school of listening
Teachers in nurseries and schools have long criticised the fact that children are finding it increasingly difficult to listen. Their attention span has fallen sharply in the age of smartphones and tablets. Teachers therefore change the teaching method several times during a lesson so that the children's concentration doesn't wane.
This is another reason why audio media enjoy a good reputation: they not only train children to listen, but also bring them into contact with literature - which, however, depends on the selection. Their vocabulary increases and they learn in a playful way how heroes in stories deal with conflicts or solve problems. But all this can also work without technology. By reading aloud.
As with all media, we must not leave children alone when it comes to radio plays. We should look after them, sit down and listen ourselves.
Reading aloud is always better
Even if parents don't produce stage-ready interpretations when reading aloud, they do things that no radio play is capable of: by reading aloud, we show children that we take time for them. These are often wonderful moments that create warmth and closeness. Above all, as dialogue partners, we answer questions about the story and alleviate possible fears.
All children love being read to. But as soon as they can read for themselves, many parents stop. And yet - and I say this as an author of books for young people - we could even read aloud to 16 or 17-year-olds with appropriate reading material if only we would.
Health experts recommend a maximum listening time of 30 minutes for children under the age of three and 45 minutes for children between the ages of three and six. For children between the ages of six and ten, it is advisable not to exceed one hour. But do we really need to regulate this? That depends on the attitude of the parents.
If the audio book is just a building block in everyday life alongside free play and exercise in the fresh air, I think it can be handled in a more relaxed way. It doesn't have to be strictly regulated. However, as with all media, we must not leave children to their own devices. We should look after them, sit down and listen.
The use of audio games and audio books to put children to sleep or as babysitters is a cause for concern. Recently, a teacher told me about a boy who said the following when talking about bedtime rituals: «Mum kisses me goodnight, switches off the light and puts on a CD.»
That hurts.
