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Press Releases
Generation Next Season - exploring the world of the under-18s
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Generation Next is aÌýweek of special programmes dedicated to understanding and
exploring the world through the eyes of under 18-year-olds - theÌýnext
generation.
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The season runs from Saturday 2 to Sunday 10 December 2006 across all 91Èȱ¬
World Service's 33 language services and programme genres.
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It is supported by
an in-depth online website which goes live on Monday 27 November.
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Generation Next will give young people the chance to set the agenda, put their
issues centre-stage and give them a chance to question the powerful.
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The season
will also challenge young people about the future, the kind of world they want
to see and what they are doing to bring it about.
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The highlights include School Day 24 - a day which links schools in political
'hot spots' around the world with schools located in areas with opposing views
on the local tensions, conflicts and divides.
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Hot Seat will give young people
the chance to challenge those in authority and call the older generation to
account.
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And The Next Big Thing is a worldwide competition to find a young,
undiscovered music sensation.
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Regular programmes, such as Outlook, Analysis, Discovery, Digital Planet, One
Planet and Health Check will be devoting their programmes to the season.
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A
special edition of the daily news programme Newshour will be presented and
guest-edited by young people.
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The key programmes are:
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Thursday 30 November
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As a prelude to the Generation Next season, 91Èȱ¬ World Service releases the
Generation Next Poll.
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This is a survey of the attitudes and opinions of 15
to 18-year-olds around the world about current news and social issues they say
are relevant and important. The results will be discussed in news programmes
throughout the day.
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Young people are questioned in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Nigeria,
Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UK, and the United States.
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Questions include - Would you consider taking action which might result in the
death of innocent people if you felt strongly about a cause? Is religion a
force for good or source of conflict? Would you marry a person of a different
race or religion? Should women have equal rights? Have you heard of Aids?
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Monday 4 December
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Generation Next
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Robin Lustig explores what youth means in different societies and cultures
worldwide in Generation Next, a five-part documentary series running across the
week from Monday 4 to Friday 8 December (9.05-9.30am). Ìý
He looks at the legal, social and cultural frameworks separating the child from
the adult by focusing on aspects of life such as sex and marriage, work,
voting, politics and crime.
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He talks to young people around the world - including Albania, Ghana, India,
Korea, South Africa, the US and the UK.
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"In some cultures youth is the period of time from childhood to the early
20s," he says. "In others it is virtually non-existent. Full recognition of
adulthood can be delayed into a person's 40s or even later."
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"In the west, where the age of 18 is probably the catch-all definition of
adulthood, young people are allowed to drive before they can legally drink
alcohol. They can get married or sign up to fight in the army before they can
vote."
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Presenter/Robin Lustig, Producer/Mike Gallagher
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Analysis
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Children's rights campaigner Camila Batmanghelidjh - founder of the charity
Kids' Company and winner of this year's UK Women of the Year award - explores
the ways different countries and cultures focus on the needs of children.
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She will go beyond the statistics on infant mortality, malnutrition and
literacy to examine their reality in the current affairs programme Analysis
throughout the week from Monday 4 to Friday 8 December (8.50-9.00am).
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Presenter/Camila Batmanghelidjh, Producer/Joanna Mills
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Outlook
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Five 10-minute plays from five London-based 10 to 12-year-olds will be
broadcast in the daily magazine programme Outlook each weekday from Monday 4
to Friday 8 December (10.05-11.00am).
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The children - from Bangladesh, China, Croatia, Ghana and London - now live in
the King's Cross area of London. Their plays are set in the parts of the world
their parents or grandparents came from.
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Each play has two characters, neither of whom can be human, and the children's
words cannot be altered by the actors playing the parts.
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Editor/Gavin Poncia
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Discovery: Understanding the Teenage Brain
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It's been known for some time that hormones affect teenage behaviour, but
significant changes also take place in the brain during puberty.
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Teenagers discuss the significance of these changes, and how they might help
explain their behaviour in the science documentary programme Discovery:
Understanding the Teenage Brain (12.30-1.00pm).
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Brains experience a growth spurt when puberty occurs. Grey matter accumulates
in the front of the brain, the part which deals with judgement, organisation and
planning.
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But despite this 'thickening' of the frontal lobe, teenagers continue
to use the more emotional areas to the rear of the brain to process
information.
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Teenage brains tend to bypass the more analytical regions of the brain, which
might explain impulsive decision-making among young people.
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Producer/Deborah Cohen
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Tuesday 5 December
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Generation Next
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Robin Lustig investigates sexual activity among young people, how they choose
their partners and the degree to which they accept parental and adult
intervention in their decisions in Generation Next (9.05-9.30am).
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Presenter/Robin Lustig, Producer/Mike Gallagher
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Digital Planet
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Youth culture plays a major role in identifying what are the latest must-have
gadgets; teenagers are in the driving seat.
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Digital Planet (12.30-1.00pm)
brings leading figures in the technology industry and young people together to
explore how young people influence technological innovation.
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Producer/Deborah Cohen
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Wednesday 6 December
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School Day 24
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Throughout the day, the 91Èȱ¬ will orchestrate the world's biggest ever link up
of schoolchildren.
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School Day 24 will give a voice to young people around the
globe allowing them to talk across social, political and cultural divides about
the issues that concern them.
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The 91Èȱ¬ Russian service, for example, will co-present its morning programme
from schools in Moscow and Chechnya.
Tamil and Sinhala schools will be linked in Sri Lanka.
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And we'll be hearing
from Macedonian and Serbian teenagers in Skopje who seldom meet although they
share the same school building.
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There are other link-ups happening in Albania, Bangladesh, Burma, China,
Germany, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland and the
USA.
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Using the global resources of 91Èȱ¬ World Service, satellite broadcasting
equipment will be put in schools around the world to enable teenagers to make
their voices heard throughout the day both in their regions and worldwide.
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It's the first time that 91Èȱ¬ World Service has given airtime to teenagers on
such a grand scale.
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The link-ups will also be covered online in the individual language services
and on a central English-language Schools Day website: bbcnews.com/schoolday24.
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Co-ordinator/Jasper Bouverie
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Generation Next
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Under-18s are more likely to experiment, take drugs, break the law, and even
commit suicide.
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Criminality tends to begin around the age of 13, peak at 17 and
disappear almost completely in early adulthood. Robin Lustig finds out why in
Generation Next (9.05-9.30am). Ìý
Presenter/Robin Lustig, Producer/Mike Gallagher
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Science in Action
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Sue Broom hears what 'Generation Next' thinks about science in Science in
Action (12.30-1.00pm).
She visits a school in Buckinghamshire to talk to young British students.
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Richard Hollingham does the same at a school in Selangor, Malaysia, comparing
teaching and enthusiasm for the subject in both countries.
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As Western schools struggle to overcome teenage hostility towards science, Sue
and Richard explore what teachers in the West can learn from the way science is
taught in developing nations like Malaysia, where young people have a much more
positive attitude towards the subject.
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Presenter/Sue Broom, Producer/Deborah Cohen
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Thursday 7 December
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Generation Next
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Robin Lustig focuses on young people's attitudes to work and responsibility in
Generation Next (9.05-9.30am).
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"If adulthood is above all about taking responsibility and contributing to the
world, childhood is about being passive and playing no part," he says.
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"Sometimes, young people get caught up between the two. But without some level
of independence and contribution, the stresses of western style adolescence -
that conflict between childish dependence and adult-level ability - can only
increase."
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Presenter/Robin Lustig, Producer/Mike Gallagher
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One Planet
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The next generation is going to have to deal with enormous population growth.
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Presented by a teenager, the science programme One Planet (12.30-1.00pm)
challenges young people to face up to the issue, imagine what a world of nine
billion might be like, and asks them to develop potential solutions.
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Producer/Deborah Cohen
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Friday 8 December
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Generation Next
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Robin Lustig assesses the relevance of citizenship to the young in Generation
Next (9.05-9.30am).
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"Youth is naturally optimistic and eager to play a part, yet citizenship
remains one of the final hurdles for most youngsters," he says.
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"In those states which offer a vote, the age is almost always 18. This is
nothing new.
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"In Athens, birthplace of democracy, a special ceremony - dokimasia
- was held to see if youngsters were suitable for full citizen rights and allow
them to prove themselves - at 18.
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"Today some younger people are doing just that
without being asked..."
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Presenter/Robin Lustig, Producer/Mike Gallagher
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Health Check
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Medical advances mean humans can live increasingly longer.
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Health Check (12.30-1.00pm) asks how the next generation feel about potentially spending a third
of their lives in 'old age'.
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What can they do now to help ensure they will be
healthy and happy in future?
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Producer/Deborah Cohen
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Saturday 9 December
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The Next Big Thing
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In the final of The Next Big Thing, 91Èȱ¬ World Service's search for the best
young band or solo artist aged 18 or under, the six finalists are judged by a
global panel and the winner is revealed in the Music Performance slot (10.00-11.00pm).
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bbcworldservice.com/thenextbigthing
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Presenter/Mark Coles, Producer/Simon Pitts.
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91Èȱ¬ World Service Press Office
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