Stories the true fabric of our lives

For all children, and indeed, adults too, stories are not limited to books, radio drama and other modern media. They are, in fact, the fabric of our lives – how we understand ourselves, our worlds and those around us.

They have the power to heal, to teach, to inspire and ultimately shape our world view.

This is especially true for young children, who, in their early years, drink in the stories they hear as they start to piece together their identities and places in the world.

Dr Garth Japhet doesn’t just know this; he is an expert in using stories to motivate and shape value-based behaviour change in South African communities.

Most recently he has been using children’s storybooks as an avenue to drive positive character development in the next generation.

“The role of story over generations and since time immemorial in shaping the way children see the world, has been central and there is neurobiology behind why the impact is so profound. Emotions shift behaviour and stories connect with emotions; facts don’t,” Japhet said.

Facts stimulate only that part of the brain that is related to the content, whereas stories evoke a full brain experience. This, in turn, leads to embedding habits and behaviour, he explained.

But not all stories are equipped to bring about this kind of moral learning. They need to resonate with the child’s personal experiences; challenge the listener towards their better selves and they also need to evoke emotion.

“If I haven’t been touched by a story, I’m unlikely to want to engage with it,” Japhet said.

Where will parents find these stories? Well, they are not the sugar-coated stories of the modern consumer era, produced by marketers. Parents and caregivers need to look deeper by visiting libraries or local bookshops to authors whose books reflect their children’s environments and whose stories carry real messages.

“There are stories all around children which we can’t prevent them from hearing – stories about the real world where people do die; get shot or get sick and if the stories which we engage our children with don’t allow us to interrogate that, we can’t teach children effective ways to handle these situations and emotions,” Japhet concluded.

lDr Garth Japhet is the founder and chief executive of Heartlines, a value-based media campaign and printed resource organisation. Heartlines has developed a series of books titled Stories That Talk which assist educators and caregivers in encouraging early literacy skills and learning around values. Japhet is best known for his first public health media organisation, Soul City.

Reading and telling stories with your children is a powerful gift to them – it builds knowledge, language, imagination and school success. For more information about the Nal’ibali Story Power campaign or to download more story benefits in 11 languages, visit www.nalibali.org. Nal’ibali is driven by Praesa, 2015 laureate of the world’s largest award for children’s literature and reading promotion, the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.