PLANET Child is the unique documentary which will challenge the way the nation raises British children.
Taking inspiration from the freedoms that other children have across the globe , the social experiment will see how a group of sever young children managed to handle seemingly “adult” tasks. Here’s all you need to know about the controversial show…
Twin doctors, Chris and Xand van Tulleken, look at radically different cultures across the world and ask what they can teach us about the experiences children are exposed to today, in our technologically driven 21st century environment.
The three-part series features scientific experiments to delve deep into the way children experience life across Britain and the world today.
The show explores key areas such as risk-taking, independence, morality and gender awareness in a range of scenarios.
Aged between four and seven years, the children’s reactions to different challenges are tested to offer an eye-opening insight into their attitudes, behaviour and just what they are capable of when left unchecked by parental supervision.
Planet Child kicks off TONIGHT (May 1) at 9pm on ITV.
In the first episode, the doctors are inspired by the freedom given to children in other countries.
Such as how six-year-old Michi from Japan, and thousands of other school kids, commutes alone across Tokyo to get to school everyday.
With British kids now spending less time outdoors than prison inmates and being heavily supervised most of the time, the doctors create the ultimate test of independence for the British kids.
They ask if a group of four to seven year old children can cross London and take a trip on the London Eye – without their parents!
The entire point of Planet Child is to ultimately further our understanding of children’s development.
The scientific experiment will delve into different cultures and look at what can be learned from the different environmental factors affecting the children, as well as the influence technology and the children’s exposure to it in the modern day.
Filmed over two years, the series explores the children’s attitudes and behaviour in response to different challenges affecting their development.
ITV Factual Commissioner Nicola Lloyd explains: “This is the first generation of children growing up in the technology age.
“It’s a long way from the stone age to the phone age, so it feels like the perfect time to take a bold look at the development of children in Britain and compare them to children in other cultures across the world.”
