What’s happened to children’s radio?

Much praise has been lavished on Radio 2’s 500 Words short-story competition, the winners to be announced on Friday’s Chris Evans show, live from the Hay Festival. Quite right, too. It’s a brilliant way to encourage children aged 13 and under to explore their potential by inviting them to write stories. But you’d think that since it’s a competition organised by a radio station the prizes might have something to do with listening, the making of programmes, the sheer magic of radio. Not so. The winners will receive a huge pile of books for themselves, and another pile for their school library. But there’s nothing to celebrate the connection between radio and the imagination; nothing to encourage children to take up the radio habit.

In our tech-crazed, high-speed world, listening has been pushed on to the back seat. Yet listening is crucial to learning, whether you’re nine and discovering the world, or 39 and responsible for teamwork in the office or high-level diplomatic negotiations.