It's hard to believe in these days when children happily sit through hours of noisy and sometimes violent television that the B.B.C. should have hesitated before launching "Listen with Mother" 21 years ago.
Their fear that a disembodied voice coming from a box in the corner would alarm children seems extraordinarily over-cautious when one sees four year-olds lapping up the weird electronic noises and disturbing visual effects of "Dr. Who"—a programme that has been known to frighten mere adults. The great pity about all this is that television does not require any effort from the children themselves: they simply sit back and enjoy it. Whereas radio can positively encourage them to develop their imagination and thereby participate more. Listening to stories on the radio provokes far more discussion (about what the characters look like and wear. etc.) amongst my children than any television programme. (Mrs.) M. COLE, Beckenham. Kent.
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