Storytelling almost a novelty

By Fitri Wulandari

JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of children gathered, sitting silently on the carpeted floor, staring at and listening attentively to a middle-aged man on the stage telling a funny story about an elephant.

A scene like this, found in a hall at the Jakarta Convention Center during the 2001 Indonesian Book Fair, suggests that listening to stories remains popular among some but not all children today.

Similar scenes of crowding children listening to stories can be found at almost every book fair in Jakarta.

For one fair frequenter, seven-year-old Awwaab, listening to stories told by adults has been part of his life.

"It's fun. My favorite is Superman," Awwaab said, adding that he gets his mom to tell him one or two stories whenever she has time.

Awwaab has attended many storytelling sessions, including the one at the recent book fair. But he is a rare case nowadays, especially for an urban kid.

If many grown-ups can still recall that listening to stories was very much part of their growing up, many children today will probably recall, some years down the road, that they see and hear most of their tales from videos, cassette tapes and interactive computer programs.

With the development of so many audio-visual tools, parents today have simply never bothered to develop the art of storytelling.

Experts say that this is a bad trend.

"Parents think that storytelling is obsolete, not suitable in this modern era," child psychologist Seto Mulyadi said.

"Storytelling remains a very important tool for raising children. Modern technology can't replace it. Parents don't realize the many benefits that storytelling brings," Seto said.

Besides being a vital source of knowledge for children, storytelling also stimulates children's intellectual ability and emotional sensitivity, Seto said.

Most of all, he added, storytelling strengthens the emotional bond between parents and children, something that a cassette, video player or computer can never replace.

Mariono Agus Moeljono from the non-profit Children's Development Center, which organized the storytelling event at last week's book fair, said such a process could begin with a mother putting her toddler on her lap to read a story.

"Storytelling is the first university for children," Agus said. "When parents read a story, they transfer knowledge to their children, expose them to a range of information."

Storytelling works wonders in sharpening emotional sensitivity, he said, adding that stories containing moral values help children develop strong characters.

Children who listen to stories regularly are usually more confident, calm, creative and critical, he said.

Seto said many parents are not aware of the importance of developing an emotional quotient (EQ) in children, mainly focusing on their intelligence quotient (IQ) instead.

"It is not surprising to find many children today being aggressive and lacking self-confidence," he said.

To be effective, however, parents must master the art of storytelling.

Seto said one effective method is to encourage a child to participate in the process.

"When you read a story about a hunter, you can begin by saying 'once upon a time, a hunter went to the forest to hunt for animals'. Then let your child guess what animals are in the forest," he explained.

This method tests children's intellectual ability. It can also lead to better communication between parents and children.

Choosing the right book is also important.

"Choose books with good themes, such as friendship, religion or books that contain a lot of information," Seto said.

Agus said that, while many parents complain about the difficulties in instilling a reading habit among children, the solution is actually simple: storytelling.

"Storytelling is the seed of good reading habits," he said.

Contrary to what many parents say -- that storytelling makes children lazy to read -- it is actually a good way to introduce them to books, he said.

After listening to parents read out a story, children will gradually become eager to read the story themselves, Agus said.

Seto said parents should choose books in accordance with their age.

"For a baby, start with illustrated books without text. Then, as the child gets older, choose books with more text, and so on. Gradually, the child will become curious and want to read the story on their own," Seto explained.