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Woman's Hour

Young kids and screen time, Adoption Act centenary, The Ayoub Sisters

Woman's Hour

BBC

Society & Culture

4.13K Ratings

🗓️ 12 January 2026

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Parents of under-fives in England are to be offered official advice on how long their children should spend watching TV or looking at computer screens. It comes as government research shows about 98% of children under two were watching screens on a daily basis - with parents, teachers and nursery staff saying youngsters were finding it harder to hold conversations or concentrate on learning. To discuss this further Nuala McGovern is joined by Kate Silverton, child counsellor and parenting author, and Professor Sonia Livingstone from the London School of Economics and author of Parenting for a Digital Future.

Heather Rose's latest novel, A Great Act of Love, is set around a real-life vineyard in Tasmania in the early 19th century. This was at a time when Tasmania, or Van Diemen’s Land as it was called then, was still a British penal colony. It was while she was researching this book that Heather discovered her own family’s dark history and its connection to the land, which she has interwoven into the story.

This year marks the centenary of the Adoption of Children Act 1926. It was the first legislation enabling the legal adoption of children in England and Wales, with equivalent legislation passed in Northern Ireland in 1929 and in Scotland in 1930. Joining Nuala to discuss the significance of the passing of this act is Dame Carol Homden, Chief Executive of Coram, Harriet Ward, Emeritus Professor at Loughborough University and currently writing a book about the history of adoption, and Zoe Lambert, who was adopted at five months old and is the founder of In-Between Lines, that works with adoptees, adoption agencies and advocacy groups.

The Ayoub Sisters are Scottish Egyptian siblings Sarah and Laura Ayoub who play cello and violin. Their debut album was recorded in Abbey Road Studios with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Their second album, Arabesque, was released independently and went to number one in the iTunes chart. They are about to undertake a UK tour to celebrate their 10th anniversary, which will include the premiere of their Arabic Symphony in a homecoming concert in Glasgow.

Presenter: Nuala McGovern Producer: Andrea Kidd

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.

0:07.0

Hello, I'm Greg Jenner, and good news,

0:09.5

Your Dead to Me, is back for a new series.

0:11.6

Here we go.

0:12.1

Yes, we'll explore Emperor Nero's notorious reign with Professor Mary Beard and Patton Oswald.

0:16.9

I would not want my daughter having the remote control, not alone an empire.

0:38.6

We'll dissect the decadent life of Philippe Duke-Dolion with Tom Allen. I've often tried to pretend I'm an aristocrat and being very quickly knocked down. And there'll be so much more with comedians like Olga Koch, Mike Mosniak and Rihelina. I'm excited. You're dead to me. The comedy podcast that takes history seriously. Listen first on BBC Sounds.

0:43.5

Hello, I'm Nula McGovern and welcome to Woman's Hour from BBC Radio 4.

0:49.6

Just to say that for rights reasons, the music in the original radio broadcast has been removed for this podcast.

0:52.7

Hello and welcome to the programme.

0:56.1

Well, this morning we'll get into that study just mentioned in the news bulletin,

0:59.9

which has found that screen time hinders toddler speech.

1:03.5

We do know by age two, almost all children are watching screens,

1:06.2

and we do know that it's an emotive subject.

1:11.3

But I'd like to know from you, how are you managing screen time with under fives?

1:12.8

Is it a struggle?

1:16.6

And where exactly is the struggle, if you can share?

1:23.3

And what would you like guidance most on when it comes to little kids and screens?

1:26.8

You can text the program, the number is 84844 on social media.

1:28.1

We're at BBC Woman's Hour.

1:32.0

Or you can email us through our website for a WhatsApp message or voice note.

1:36.3

The number is 0300-100-400-444.

...

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