Watch Life at 9

The Life Series returns with two compelling new episodes as eight Australian children negotiate life in the rapidly changing world of late childhood, in the crucial few years before adolescence begins. Theyve been filmed since their first year of life, as part of a unique scientific and social experiment. Now nine, they are the public face of a pioneering longitudinal study of Australian children. The study reveals sweeping changes to childhood, particularly in how children are spending their time. So in a Life Series first, we follow all our children from wakeup to bedtime to uncover what life is really like at nine. In Life at 9, the kids respond to the world with new sophistication and complexity. But at the same time, their development is at a precipice. The latest scientific research tells us their levels of independence and creativity could set them up for success in later life. Yet evidence suggests that both are declining rapidly in the life of the modern child. Through the prism of our Life Lab the kids undergo developmental and behavioural experiments with child psychologist, Dr Marc de Rosnay, and creativity expert, Dr David Cropley. How independently do they think? What kind of praise equips children to cope with failure? And can kids improve their creativity levels in just one day? Their parents are put under the microscope too. How much freedom are they giving their kids to make their own decisions? And are todays kids more creative than their parents? The Life Series has exclusive access to a wealth of scientific findings from Australias unique federally-funded longitudinal study, Growing up in Australia, where 10,000 children and their families are interviewed over 15 years to unveil never before captured sociological and scientific data. Life at 9 runs in concert with this study and provides real life illustrations of the scientific findings, bringing a human face to the statistics. As the nation watches the lives of our children unfold, we ask what it is that makes us all independent, creative and thriving human beings. This is Life at 9.