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The old mantra that children should be seen and not heard may be consigned to the history books suggests a recent survey by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines, commissioned to mark the launch of new pre-school magazine Waybuloo. Over 2,500 adults were asked for their views on children's behaviour: the majority of respondents felt that social skills involving sharing, interaction and expressing views were more valuable than having good table manners and not answering back.

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines survey found that 57% of respondents believed the most important 'good manner' for children is 'saying please and thank you'. This was followed by 'understanding the importance of sharing' with 38%. 'Playing in a group as well as playing on your own' and 'being respectful toward parents' tied for third place in the list of the most important basic manners for children today.

Perhaps surprisingly, only one in four adults believe that 'having good table manners' is important to a child's development and just 15% agree that 'not answering back' is a vital 'good manner' for a young child to have.

When asked for examples of the 'worst manners' exhibited by children, 'being rude' was the top response, with 44%, followed by every parent's worst nightmare, 'misbehaving in public', chosen by 37% of respondents. 'Bullying' and 'throwing a tantrum' were other top picks in the ‘worst manners’ category.

When asked 'what makes young children most happy', 'active physical play' was the most popular response, chosen by 66% of respondents. This was followed by 'bonding with parents' and 'playing with friends' with 63% and 57% respectively.

The survey was commissioned by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines to mark the launch of Waybuloo Magazine, the pre-school title based on the new CBeebies programme and the first magazine to help children learn about feelings, understand emotions and their impact on the world around them. The launch issue is all about sharing and each issue of the magazine will focus on positive themes such as kindness, patience and being a good listener.

Stephanie Cooper, editor of Waybuloo and specialist education advisor says, "Grown-ups clearly value social skills involving sharing, interaction and expressing views as important to a child's development. Waybuloo Magazine reflects this by focussing on all the social and emotional aspects of learning, offering parents something that is fun and practical, which they can use to encourage really positive behaviour with their young children."

Waybuloo Magazine, priced £2.35 and aimed at 3-5 year olds launches on 24th June.


NOTES TO EDITORS
List of results -Top 10 responses

Q 1. Choose three good manners you feel are most important for young children (age 0-6 years) to have today:

1. Saying "please" and "thank you" 57%
2. Understanding the importance of sharing 38%
=3. Being able to play well in a group as well as on own 34%
=3. Being respectful towards parents 34%
4. Being able to express views in a respectful way 25%
5. Having good table manners 25%
6. Showing consideration to others' views 24%
7. Being able to listen without interrupting 20%
8. Not answering back 15%
9. Helping friends during tasks 9%

Q 2. Choose the three worst manners you feel young children (age 0-6 years) have today:

1. Being rude 44%
2. Misbehaving in a public space 37%
3. Using bad language 27%
4. Bullying/ fighting with siblings and other children 26%
5. Screaming/ crying/ shouting 24%
6. Being disrespectful towards older people 24%
7. Answering back 23%
8. Not saying "please"/ "thank you" 19%
9. Bad table manners 18%
10. Being unable to listen 12%

Q 3. Select the three things that you think make a young child (age 0-6 years) MOST happy:

1. Active physical play 66%
2. Bonding with parents 63%
3. Playing with friends 57%
4. Playing with animals/pets 19%
5. Playing make-believe 17%
6. Playing with toys 16%
7. Reading 14%
8. Going to nursery/school 11%
9. Television shows 9%
10. Bonding with other relatives 8%

About Waybuloo
Waybuloo, the new 100 x 20 minute series is a unique mix of animation and live action. Waybuloo is a highly innovative approach to pre-school programming focussing on children’s emotions. It transports children to Nara, a live-action world inhabited by adorable animated characters called Piplings who embody a range of emotions such as Love, Wisdom, Happiness and Harmony.

Waybuloo was commissioned by Michael Carrington, Controller, CBeebies. The executive producer for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ is Sarah Colclough and the production’s executive producers are Nigel Pickard, Vanessa Hill, Angus Fletcher, Steven DeNure and Beth Stevenson. The series originated from an original idea created by Dan Good (Absolutely Cuckoo) who is a creative consultant on the series.

About Waybuloo Magazine
Waybuloo Magazine, the fortnightly title published by ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines will launch on 24th June 2009. The title will be targeted at 3 to 5 year olds and have a cover price of £2.35. ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines has gained the licence to publish the new title from RDF Kids, licensees of the new pre-school show Waybuloo, which launched on CBeebies in May 2009.

About the Survey
These results are taken from an online survey of UK adults on the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines reader panel. The reader panel exists to capture the views and opinions of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ magazine readers. The results are based on 2667 responses and the survey was live from 27th -31st May 2009.

About Stephanie Cooper
Stephanie worked for 8 years in education, specialising in the early years. She was a teacher in two London boroughs before becoming deputy head teacher of a large primary school in South London. After two years as an advisory teacher for literacy, she spent two further years writing books for parents as well as writing for magazines and newspapers. Stephanie is now Group Editor of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Pre-school magazines at ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Worldwide.

About ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines
³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Magazines is the magazine publishing division of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Worldwide, the main commercial arm and wholly owned subsidiary of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ. It publishes over 40 ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ consumer titles, including Top Gear, Good Food, Gardeners' World and Radio Times and many children's titles including CBeebies Weekly, Doctor Who Adventures and Match of the Day.

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