Those
of you who read the last issue of the webmag may like to know
that I had a great time sailing at St. Mawes in Cornwall, and
that what I wrote about the place being a safe community within
which children could play and explore without adult interference
on the one hand, or absence on the other, was completely reinforced
by what I saw and experienced.
Typical
of the child-friendly environment was a yacht race in perfect
evening conditions. There must have been sixty or seventy crews
competing, and some of the boats were top class racers. Yet two
Optimists also took part. (In case you didn’t know, these
are the smallest of all dinghies and shaped like an old-fashioned
pram. There is space for only one child aboard.) The child-skippers
were able to display their skills, and to make mistakes knowing
that they were respected and safe despite the speed, size and
competitive spirit of the adult participants. And while all this
was going on (it was pretty lively and crowded before the start),
other children were swimming, canoeing and in rubber dinghies
very near to the action.
I
also spent a couple of days on the North coast of Cornwall based
at Daymer Bay, just round the corner from Polzeath, and was fascinated
by the way toddlers and children played all day without intrusive
adult supervision on the rocks and in the rock pools beside the
Camel Estuary. Their interest never wavered and I recall one couple
(they were Aston Villa supporters, I later discovered) pleading
with two of their offspring to finish their shrimping immediately
or risk being left behind at the end of the day.
All
this is a far cry from the experience of so many children and
young people worldwide. We know, sadly, of the plight of many
in war-scarred countries, and in places blighted by famine and
disease, but I am thinking too of other children who are deprived
of the opportunities characterised by the experiences I have been
describing.
To
explain what I mean perhaps I should declare my holiday reading.
Because I am preparing to teach a course on Globalisation I had
several relevant sociological tomes, one of which was Jihad vs.
McWorld, by Benjamin Barber published by Corgi 2003. He argues
that multi-national companies are creating a new virtual world
of “infotainment” where image, fashion and individual
identity are paramount.
If
you want a key indicator of the nature of this world then MTV
is probably the best example. Its operating imperative is “to
create the cultural values necessary to material consumption”
(Barber, 169), so that young people are shaped into the image
of consumers who see value only in that which is purchased, and
who neither notice nor care for that which is free, self-built
or discovered.
The
archetypal products of McWorld are theme parks where nature is
copied and modified, but more importantly where Disney and Warner
creations form the meta-narratives in which the young consumers
find meaning and enjoyment. It goes without saying that everything
is bought, and that one of the objectives of the owners is to
generate more consumption at the end of, and after, the visit.
This might be dismissed as a harmless one-off form of pleasure
or entertainment, but such an approach is ingenuous. It is the
tip of the iceberg, the thin end of the wedge. Barber gives evidence
of the companies seeking to enter and dominate the public education
of children. The market and shareholders won’t accept moral
or ethical boundaries when they get in the way of expansion and
profit.
So
the youngsters in St. Mawes harbour, and those playing in the
rock-pools of Daymer Bay, need “educating” by and
into McWorld, so that they realise that messing about in boats
and catching shrimps are simply not “cool”. They must
be taught that it is only as consumers buying branded commodities
that “real” pleasure is to be found. Ironically, of
course, this real pleasure is not found in tactile experiences
of water and rocks, but in the fantasy world of images and dreams
portrayed twenty four hours a day by MTV.
This
leads me to confess that I am going to be away in North Wales
by the time you read this. I will be staying there with the whole
of the community of Mill Grove, based in the two terraced houses
that form our holiday base in Snowdonia. We will be climbing,
sailing, canoeing, swimming, shrimping, and playing on the dunes
and in, and on, the sand as we have been doing for twenty years
or more.
And
what was the first thing I did on acquiring the properties? Yes,
you’ve probably guessed: to disconnect and get rid of the
television left by the previous owners. I’m not sure we
could have competed with McWorld, had we left it in situ. Instead,
evenings are spent reading, drawing and painting, playing the
guitar, and with any number of indoor games.
Hopefully
this means that at least some of the next generation will learn
to live lives independent of McWorld, if only a few 
weeks
each year. I haven’t yet dared to suggest getting rid of
the TVs at home. And that would still leave mobile phones, Walkmans,
and cinemas in place.
What’s
important is the fact that the real world has been encountered.
In my experience that is something children never forget. And
if I finally get going on my series of children’s books
about our adventures in Snowdonia, they might help too. Sorry,
but I must finish the packing: the Mirror dinghy is already on
the car, and the children have finished theirs.
