Terri White: Finding Britain’s Ghost Children
5.0/5
Critic Rating
Terri White made it to the top of her profession in journalism, editing magazines in London and New York. Two things helped her through a very difficult upbringing in Chesterfield; her Nanna and school. The classroom was a place where Terri could press pause on the violence and chaos at home. A place to be fed and looked after, where she could learn. When Terri hears that an increasing number of children haven’t returned to school since the pandemic, she fears that the lifeline for kids like her may be gone. In this five part series, Terri White revisits her own past and meets people working at the highest level of education and child welfare, to find out why some children in England are out of school more often than they're in, and what can be done to get them back into the classroom. If you have been affected by any of the the subjects covered in this series you can find help and support at bbc.co.uk/actionline.
Critic Reviews
Score: 5
Rachel Cunliffe • New Statesman • Mar 29, 2023
"I kept having to take breaks from Terri White’s new series for BBC 5 Live. Halfway through episode one, I burst into tears... She speaks frankly of her own childhood, in which she was physically and sexually abused by her mother’s various partners. School was her sanctuary, the one place she felt safe and able to be herself. When Boris Johnson announced that schools would close in 2020, she was “terrified” for children like her. This is not an easy programme to listen to. It’s a travesty that this series needed to be made at all. But the least we can do is listen to it, however harrowing that may be."
Score: 5
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian • Mar 25, 2023
"Terri White is a gifted journalist and communicator...We should be listening, hearing these stories. As a society, the safety of such children is our collective responsibility. At the moment, much of the responsibility for their safety falls on to individual teachers, who spot the absences and physically turn up to homes, looking for these missing kids. White is a sympathetic, emotional host and this series ought to be required listening for our political leaders."
