Kuwait Times

Published Date: April 15, 2008
By Nawara Fattahova, Staff writer

KUWAIT: The government does not pay enough attention to children's interests in Kuwait. Experts from different walks of life complained that there is a dearth of child-oriented programs in the state. To highlight this issue, the Kuwait Journalist Association (KJA) held a symposium titled 'Media's Role in Raising Children' yesterday. It covered different topics related to the various programs aired for children through satellite channels. They also discussed the status enjoyed by children's literature in Ku
wait. Professionals from the media field chipped in their personal experiences.

Dr Kafiya Ramadan, a specialist in children's literature and the Editor-in-Chief of Al-Sidra Magazine for children spoke about her academic and work experience in the media field. Al-Sidra Magazine was banned from publishing for several years. In 1993 Dr Ramadan revived after obtaining the license. "I was seeking government's support for publishing this magazine but I failed. So I searched for a foreign sponsor and succeeded," said Ramadan.

Children's news needs to be treated in a special manner. "In children's world, news should be presented in an easy, amusing way. This applies to the most difficult situations as well. Children's issues are very sensitive and important. It's a national issue. Officials from the Kuwait TV should focus more on them," noted Budour Al-Eissa, children's TV program director.

The Kuwait TV has given some children the opportunity to work in the TV field and gain experience. "Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad demanded that a special permanent TV program be devoted for kids. After this, we have worked on encouraging children host TV programs. Many children participated in directing programs, leading conversations and discussions. Many children have gone on to become famous TV hosts like Nuha Nabeel, Abdulmuhsin Al-Rawdan and others," Al-Eissa added.

Not all broadcasted children's TV programs are of good quality or are they useful. "It's true there are some excellent TV programs and we appreciate their efforts to make it successful. Some are classified as kids' programs. In fact, it's only a review of activities held in schools," noted Dr Kafiya Ramadan. Bringing out a kid's magazine is not an easy task. "Actually, there are no other kids' magazines in Kuwait that receive government's support other than than 'Sa'ad Magazine'. It is impossible to run a
magazine without receiving advertisements. Obtaining advertisements for children's magazines is very difficult," Ramadan explained.

Even though Kuwait is a rich country, children's interests are sidelined. There are not enough TV programs for children in Kuwait, "Children constitute 43 percent of the population. Out of 900 weekly broadcasting hours, there are only three hours of weekly children's programs. Also, some programs are broadcasted at the wrong time. That is when kids are in school. Also there are 120 million Arab kids. If we consider the number of existing publications in the Arab world, we will find that the kid's publicati
ons are only one fourth," explained Ramadan.

Children belonging to this generation have lost the reading habit. This has to change, "People from my generation loved to read. It was almost the only form of entertainment. But now, Arab kids are not interested in reading. In Kuwait, magazines are not popular. Don't look any further, the Ministry of Information and the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters is the best example. None of them subscribe to the Al-Sidra Magazine, although one issue costs only 500 fils," she concluded.