66. Bringing Wonder and Calm to Bedtimes with Dr Mark Westmoquette

Why do you think developing a sense of wonder about the universe and about the stars in the sky, it's so valuable for children today?

This is such an important one because the use of screen time is just going up and up.

And what screen time does is it takes you into a world of thoughts and ideas.

It's just sort of mediated from reality, right? So maybe it's somewhat real because you're somewhat communicating with real people, but there's a step back from your direct experience of the reality.

And I know that, you know, both in Australia and the UK, we've been experimenting with social media bans and trying to regulate the use of social media and screen time.

It's such a massive thing.

So then anything we can do to encourage children to actually look up from their screen and see the world and just be curious about it.

And because I'm coming from this astronomy background, then I think there's some very natural inclination towards the night sky stars and space for kids right so I meet so many kids that know so much about astronomy and space like way more than I know how do you know all that at your age you know I just it's very captivating it sparks the imagination and rockets and all that stuff And I think it's not, yeah, all over, all over kids.

So I think there's something really exciting about offering that opportunity to open curtains and look out and wonder and see.

Yeah, I love that.

I know at my son's school with the recent spaceship that was on has been in the news and stuff like that.

There was so many more kids dressed up as astronauts on, you know, what do you want to be when you grow up, Dave? Because they're exposed to that in a different way, not just looking at the sky, but then more, you know, it's a career and you can learn more.

And, you know, I have this saying and it's related to dinosaurs, but I think it could be related to astronomy as well.

There's three times in your life when you know everything about space, when you're four years old, when you get your astrophysicist degree, and then when you have a four-year-old.

And so I think that that could apply for space as well, couldn't it? Because it can become such a passion.

Yeah, yeah.

So we actually have, our one is four.

Oh, really?

I still think there's a bit more, you know, like there's more, maybe more like seven or eight.

But I've been going into schools recently to promote the book and talk a little bit about stuff.

And it is just remarkable how there's always a handful of kids in the classroom that are really so...

Really into it.

I think these missions to space, although they cost an enormous amount of money, And you might say, well, that money's possibly spent elsewhere.

But it is so inspirational and it can grab some attention, you know, and change people's life's directions.

And actually, people ask me over the years, would I go to space? And being an astronomer, it's not particularly useful to go to space.