This blog post is for all of those people who say that children should not be watching the darker episodes of Coronation Street. I have received the most wonderful feedback regarding last night's Coronation Street episode in which the residents of Weatherfield reacted to Aidan's death.
I arrived home from work and watched the episode with my mum. Of course I'd seen it last week with our blogger Ruth, but each scene was just as moving and powerful the second time around. As it ended, I asked my mum what she thought of what she'd watched, and of course she was as moved as I was.
However, she told me that earlier in the day she had been speaking with a friend about the (then) upcoming episodes of Corrie, knowing that her friend's 9 year old daughter was a fan of the show. My mum's friend was more than happy to let her daughter watch the programme - knowing fine well that the episodes could probably better educate her on the subject of suicide than she will ever learn within the education system.
That's when her daughter chipped in - she didn't understand why Aidan was going to take his own life. She said that if anything, she expected David to. She knew that after everything David had gone through, there was a likelihood that he would have suicidal thoughts. But she realised that just because what Aidan was going through on the inside wasn't evident from the way he was behaving, didn't mean that he wasn't depressed.
Just something to think about. Perhaps if this 9 year old can understand, it's good to give others a chance. Children are definitely more capable of understanding a situation than you think. Hats off to Corrie for this one.
If Aidan's storyline is resonating with you, there is help and support available now. Samaritans offers a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week helpline support service. Call them FREE on 116 123. You can also email jo@samaritans.org. Further information can be found at www.mentalhealth.org.uk.
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1 comment:
Our son has always watched CS with us from when CBC in Canada switched it from afternoons to evenings. So probably from about 3 years old and on.
He gets interested in the characters, their stories, why they do what they do, and it helps us have conversations about things he doesn't quite understand.
For example - Marcus and Maria's relationship! lol
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