Regular viewers of "Tell of" (Jiangshu), a well-received programme on CCTV's Channel 10 will have noticed the increasing number of amateur videos broadcast on the show.

These digital video (DV) productions are contributions of finalists from the 2005 CCTV DV contest. Launched by the TV station last October, the competition with the theme "to shoulder tomorrow's sun," will close by the end of this month.

The topic of the contest, which highlights three key aspects: communication, growth and responsibility, calls for greater social attention to the voices of children and adult responsibility to build a better environment for minors.

The appraisal committee received a total of 2,260 DV works from across the country, over half of which were produced by young students. Channel 10 is now broadcasting a selection of 67 pieces in "Tell of," sharing touching stories and a diversity of viewpoints.

Young biographers

A university student, who called herself Jiangzhe, submitted a short film about her bitter-sweet experiences as a volunteer teacher in a remote mountainous village of West China's Guizhou Province, where she worked for a year.

Students of the Tianjin University of Technology and Education portrayed the interesting school days of their 10-year-old classmate, Zhang Xinyang.

This little native of North China's Liaoning Province joined the university in 2005 as probably the youngest applicant in the history of the 27-year national college entrance exam.

Zhang attends class accompanied by his father, who is to take care of him for the next four years of college. Zhang's much-older classmates have gotten accustomed to discussing study matters with him, but find it difficult to spend time with the youngster outside class.

Like many college students, Zhang is also looking for a part-time job as a tutor, but wonders if people will find him too young for the job.

Four schoolmates, also from Anshan, Liaoning sent in their co-production about parental love, entitled "A secret birthday present."

On his 18th birthday, Wang Xiaoyu received a big envelope from his parents, containing a calendar sheet of the day he was born, the name card the nurse tied to his leg, letters written by his grandparents on the same day, and other little things signaling his birth.

Wang's father carefully kept the gift a secret till the day the youngster entered adulthood.

Another noteworthy piece, "Between father and son" deals with students' addiction to the Internet, which often strains the relationship between children and parents.

"The story of Laodian," explores the inner world of Ren Shaojie. Nicknamed Laodian, Ren is a good-natured sports teacher in a middle school in Xinxiang of Henan Province. He devotes most of his spare time to coaching the school football team. Last year, the team won the national championships. The video shows Ren crying in his wife's arms at this emotional moment in his career.

Staff at "Tell of" say that although most of the DV works lack sophisticated technique, they managed to touch a cord.

After the broadcast of one entry by a Beijing high school student which recorded a woman giving birth, a mother called to say that her disobedient 14-year-old daughter burst into tears after seeing it, and said to her, "I love you, mom."

"We believe the contest has strengthened the bond between society and minors," said Liang Hong, producer of "Tell of." "Through DV, we will continue to encourage discussions between adults and children about responsible education."

(China Daily January 26, 2006)