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"Boys and Girls Alone" Leaves Parenting Out of Reality TV
Filed under: In The News
Some are calling it "Big Brother Junior" or "Lord of the Flies 2009." But no matter what you call it, almost everyone is in agreement that UK reality show Boys and Girls Alone amounts to one thing: The exploitation of kids for ratings.
Producers put kids -- who were "volunteered" by their parents -- into two camps, one for boys and one for girls. Each camp consisted of three houses, and once filming started, the kids were left to fend for themselves. Though parents watched on closed circuit television, they didn't intervene unless things got dicey.
Dicey doesn't even begin to describe it. By day two, many of the children were sobbing uncontrollably. Others turned violent. Says one mom, 'We went in on the third day and Matthew ran up to my husband, Neil, and hit him. Then he turned and twice hit me, which he's never done before. I couldn't believe how much he was swearing."
Interestingly, that same mom says she thought her red-headed, overweight boy would be bullied on the show, and she's surprised by his aggressive reaction. I say I'm surprised by her decision to put him on TV in the first place. In fact, I'm surprised anyone would think this was a good idea. Parents went in on day three to soothe the kids' frazzled nerves, but most stayed on for the full two weeks of this experiment. What do we learn from this?
Judgment aside, parents and producers did learn something about their kids. Without supervision, the boys turned on each other physically, couldn't fend for themselves well in the kitchen, and cried for their mommies. The girls, surprisingly, were far more "Lord of the Flies" in their behavior. They fought as aggressively as the boys did, but their bullying was emotional in nature.
What did the kids think? Twelve-year-old girl Charley says, "'I thought I'd like it without adults, but I was surprised to find it was really hard. My mum and I have grown closer now, and I help her at home when she asks me. I really appreciate my mum and dad now. I didn't realize how much you need your parents."
No one ever does, Charley. No one ever does.
What about you? Is Boys and Girls Alone about kids exploiting kids, or is it parents exploiting kids? Or, maybe it's Channel 4 exploiting all of us?
Related Posts:
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Kid Nation Under Siege
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Producers put kids -- who were "volunteered" by their parents -- into two camps, one for boys and one for girls. Each camp consisted of three houses, and once filming started, the kids were left to fend for themselves. Though parents watched on closed circuit television, they didn't intervene unless things got dicey.
Reality TV Moms
by Gabrielle Linzer
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AP | Getty Images | FilmMagic | Getty Images
Former Biggest Loser contestant Amy Wolff is expecting her first child in July with husband and co-contestant, Marty Wolff. "I feel like the luckiest pregnant girl ever."
Trae Patton, NBC
Michelle Duggar
This 2004 Arkansas "Young Mother of the Year" doesn't believe in birth control, and it shows. Michelle Duggar is set to give birth to her 18th child in 2009 according to Discovery Health, which may prompt TLC to change her show's name to "18 Kids and Counting"!
Beth Hall, AP
Amy Roloff
Amy Roloff may be little, but as you can see on "Little People, Big World," she has a huge heart. As the backbone of a half little, half average height family, Roloff encourages her average height children to succeed, but also commiserates with the struggles of her little son, Zach.
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Kate Gosselin
Kate Gosselin didn't set out to create a family of eight, but her genes had other plans. Managing her set of twins and sextuplets with ease, this model mother makes having eight children look manageable, and maybe even a little bit fun.
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Denise Richards
We've been hearing about Denise Richards and Charlie Sheen drama in the tabloids for years, but when Richards decided to get her own reality TV show, we learned she wasn't kidding when she claimed "It's Complicated." Between her messy, public divorce, raising her children and maintaining her status as a sex symbol, Richards' life is certainly more dramatic than the average mom.
Jason LaVeris, FilmMagic
NeNe Leakes
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Bravo
Tori Spelling
Although she was often upstaged by her late pug Mimi La Rue in the past, Spelling is a force to reckon with as she pursued entrepreneurship and stayed in the spotlight all while eight months pregnant with her second child, Stella. Now, as a mother of two back in L.A., Spelling continues to take on Hollywood at full steam with her role on the newly renewed 90210 series.
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Mommy Meerkat
These moms are wilder than most of the other matriarchs on reality TV, but they manage their families with the same loving care. Dominant female Flower rose to power and led her pack, the Whiskers, for more than five years. These tough mommas are experts at multi-tasking, as they are filmed foraging, caring for their young and fiercely battling enemies to protect the pack.
Animal Planet
Renee Wilson
Appeared on "The Biggest Loser" with daughter Michelle Aguilar. Renee, 47, lost 45 pounds in seven weeks. "She was the quintessential yo-yo dieter," Michelle, 27, told "Prevention." Luckily the mother-daughter team was able to use familial motivation to break their old habits and start living a healthier lifestyle.
Trae Patton, NBC Photo
Dicey doesn't even begin to describe it. By day two, many of the children were sobbing uncontrollably. Others turned violent. Says one mom, 'We went in on the third day and Matthew ran up to my husband, Neil, and hit him. Then he turned and twice hit me, which he's never done before. I couldn't believe how much he was swearing."
Interestingly, that same mom says she thought her red-headed, overweight boy would be bullied on the show, and she's surprised by his aggressive reaction. I say I'm surprised by her decision to put him on TV in the first place. In fact, I'm surprised anyone would think this was a good idea. Parents went in on day three to soothe the kids' frazzled nerves, but most stayed on for the full two weeks of this experiment. What do we learn from this?
Judgment aside, parents and producers did learn something about their kids. Without supervision, the boys turned on each other physically, couldn't fend for themselves well in the kitchen, and cried for their mommies. The girls, surprisingly, were far more "Lord of the Flies" in their behavior. They fought as aggressively as the boys did, but their bullying was emotional in nature.
What did the kids think? Twelve-year-old girl Charley says, "'I thought I'd like it without adults, but I was surprised to find it was really hard. My mum and I have grown closer now, and I help her at home when she asks me. I really appreciate my mum and dad now. I didn't realize how much you need your parents."
No one ever does, Charley. No one ever does.
What about you? Is Boys and Girls Alone about kids exploiting kids, or is it parents exploiting kids? Or, maybe it's Channel 4 exploiting all of us?
| Stupid and dangerous. What were they thinking? | |
|---|---|
| Good idea, but poorly executed. | |
| Typical reality TV trash. | |
| Awesome. I can't wait to see it. |
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Kid Nation Under Siege
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
2-08-2009 @ 10:42AM
RobTheBlogger said...Think of it in an alternative way : this is what happens when parents aren't around to correct their children. They'll do whatever they want.
Reply
2-08-2009 @ 10:58AM
Heather said...I think everyone here is missing the point. I have a 11 year old (will be 12 in March). The kids at this age think they don't need their parents. They think life is all fun and games. I think the point of this show is to teach the kids that they are still kids and that they in fact do still need their parents. You know, give them a taste of what they think is the sweet life so that they realize they are not old enough to take care of their self or responsible enough. If you read the article again you will see that a child ran to their father and the boys were crying for their moms. Hello, reality hit the kids and now the kids are helping mom at home and probably a lot more responsible. My son is able to cook, he does his own laundry and he cleans. I believe more kids needs these responsibilities. Parents now days are more willing to do more for their kids and the children are now hurting because of this. Don't get me wrong, I am there for my kids when they need me but I also give them a chance to work things out for there selves first and if they can't them I show them how they can. But, you know, I'm only 29 and have a son that is 12, a step-daughter that is 11 and another son that is 10. I just do the best that I can to help my kids grow up and hopefully be able to take care of themselves and their own family when they get older.
Reply
2-08-2009 @ 10:57AM
David said...This is just more REDCULIOUS TV, these parents should ahve their children TAKEN from them for knowingly subjecting them to this type of garbage. They are suprised WHY when their children changed that dramatically? What a bunch of COMPLETE MORONS.
Reply
2-08-2009 @ 11:07AM
Paul said...This show has already been done here in the US. It was called Kid Nation. They took a large number of kids from 9 to 16 and put them in an old ghost town and told them they needed to survive as the residents of the town did. They had to set up a government, and deceide who would do what chores in the town. They were paid for their work and allowed to spend their money as they chose. It was a learning experience for most. But it looked traumatic especially for the younger kids. I question why parents need a reality show to teach their kids to be adults.
Reply
2-08-2009 @ 11:18AM
Uncledickierc said...Lacy , 10:55 You are absolutely right, as reflected by the new numbers above. However, the point I was trying to make was that the story headline on the homepage was misleading in that it left
the impression that more people approved the program than those who did not.
Reply
2-08-2009 @ 12:59PM
sherri168 said...How old are these kids? Are they all the same age? There is another "Survivor"-type show that does the same sort of things with younger kids. I think that is more supervised, but it is still crazy.
Reply