TWO TV programmes have spent weeks going head-to-head in a bid to top the ratings.
The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing divide the nation and, probably, also families.
The X Factor has its critics, of course, and our own columnist Denis Kilcommons shares his views today about how it thrives on impossible dreams and not a little cruelty.
Strictly Come Dancing features celebrities and dance professionals so they are setting themselves up for criticism and know what showbusiness is all about.
Yet does this show also have a wider benefit for the UK – and that has been highlighted by pupils at Scissett Middle School who staged their own ballroom dancing for grandparents.
It was a great inter-generational experience that no doubt provided a new common bond between young and old.
This will have opened the youngsters’ minds to the delights of the waltz, cha cha and jive in their PE lessons, boosting their self-esteem, social skills and self-confidence.
Now that’s something completely different and shows that schools have the ability to inject innovation and excitement into their curriculum.
If TV can inspire this then it’s doing something right.
