Last Night's Viewing
After watching 2 programs last night, the word that came to mind was 'compromise'!
The 1st program was 'Honey We're Killing the Kids', and this week was a single parent struggling to bring up his son. This child, aged 9, lived on junk food, spent all of his time in front of the TV, and stayed up far too late.
Obviously big changes were needed, and on the whole, things went well. But what annoyed me was the swing from one extreme to another. For example, the only thing he was now allowed for breakfast was proper porridge or museli.. which of course he point blank refused. Whilst, of course, crisps and sweets aren't the best breakfast, pushing to this extreme means no food at all. Ready Brek and Weetabix are decent enough filling foods, and more likely to be accepted. Don't you think?
Later on came 'Wife Swap', and of course the 2 extremes were once again chosen! On the one hand, you had a family that spoilt their kids, both with gifts and food. But on the other, you had a strict family.. not a calm strictness, either, but with lots of yelling, and not alot of space for fun and relaxation.
Of course both families felt they were in the right, whereas a blending of both strictness and fun would have helped both of them. Again, a little compromise.
Just as a side point, 2 bits in particualar upset me. In one of the families, both parents work in the family cafe. During school holidays, the children (aged roughly 4, 8 and 11 I believe) were expected to help out in the cafe.. then sit in the car after their chores were done. The sight of those 3 children just sitting in the car was heartbreaking.
In the other family, the dad took his 2 sons to a pub or social club every Saturday evening. At 11pm, his 6 year old (yes, I said 6!) was obviously overtired and upset. The swapped wife insisted that he went home, and the dad just couldn't see what the problem was!
The more I see on these programs, and the more I read the news, I'm beginning to think that you should have to take classes and exams, and get a licence before even thinking about having children!!
The 1st program was 'Honey We're Killing the Kids', and this week was a single parent struggling to bring up his son. This child, aged 9, lived on junk food, spent all of his time in front of the TV, and stayed up far too late.
Obviously big changes were needed, and on the whole, things went well. But what annoyed me was the swing from one extreme to another. For example, the only thing he was now allowed for breakfast was proper porridge or museli.. which of course he point blank refused. Whilst, of course, crisps and sweets aren't the best breakfast, pushing to this extreme means no food at all. Ready Brek and Weetabix are decent enough filling foods, and more likely to be accepted. Don't you think?
Later on came 'Wife Swap', and of course the 2 extremes were once again chosen! On the one hand, you had a family that spoilt their kids, both with gifts and food. But on the other, you had a strict family.. not a calm strictness, either, but with lots of yelling, and not alot of space for fun and relaxation.
Of course both families felt they were in the right, whereas a blending of both strictness and fun would have helped both of them. Again, a little compromise.
Just as a side point, 2 bits in particualar upset me. In one of the families, both parents work in the family cafe. During school holidays, the children (aged roughly 4, 8 and 11 I believe) were expected to help out in the cafe.. then sit in the car after their chores were done. The sight of those 3 children just sitting in the car was heartbreaking.
In the other family, the dad took his 2 sons to a pub or social club every Saturday evening. At 11pm, his 6 year old (yes, I said 6!) was obviously overtired and upset. The swapped wife insisted that he went home, and the dad just couldn't see what the problem was!
The more I see on these programs, and the more I read the news, I'm beginning to think that you should have to take classes and exams, and get a licence before even thinking about having children!!
posted by Michelle at 09:54
3 Comments:
I agree. Extremes in anything is inherently bad. But you also have to remember...that's Hollywood and they're going to spin everything in order to get better ratings. A compromise would be boring.
I think that's why these so-called "reality" shows are so popular..they're titillating. They show people doing things that are SOOO NOT real. How many people, if stuck on a desert island would actually be able to vote a one of themselves "off the island"??? Come on!
Anyone with a grain of sense would realize that a child forced to go from a sweets/starches diet to nothing but plain, wholesome food will always rebel. That's why they showed it the way they did.
I don't think for one minute it's "real".
And any family who would make their kids sit in a car for hours on end would very quickly be talking to Child Protective Services--at least here in the US.
I can't watch programmes like that as I end up yelling at the TV (when the poor TV has done nothing wrong but play the scheduled programmes & doesn't deserve to be screamed at like that). The families the producers choose to show are almost always the most extreme cases they can find & it's all calculated to provoke a reaction in the viewers. Like you, Michelle, I end up feeling that licenses & classes should be required before becoming parents.
This is why i only currently watch Desperate Housewives & Dr Who - LOL!
Thats why I love coming to this site as you see life a bit more how i expect other people to. Its all about common sense but unfortuantly its not very common
Anna
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