Boys and Girls Alone
Channel Four is in trouble for broadcasting Boys and Girls Alone, which is a programme where they put some children, aged 8-11, in isolated cottages in Cornwall and filmed how they got on.
Which in some cases, was not very well. Some of them bullied each other, some of them fought and some of them cried.
No, I didn't watch it, because I didn't want to. So amazing is my insight into human nature that, with really quite astonishing perception, I guessed this might happen.
William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, about a group of public-school boys stranded on a beautiful tropical island, always had the ring of truth about it to me: the boys start off in a well-meaning way and quickly descend into savagery.
Normally I wouldn't criticise a television programme that I haven't seen, but I'm wading right in on this occasion. There's a letter in The Times from the Head of Factual Entertainment saying things like "trained child chaperones were present throughout and intervened to prevent injuries and also help to resolve or disarm any upset or fighting between the children."
Aha! So they too guessed it might not be all sweetness and light, did they? And did they, by any chance, think that this might make good television?
Similar programmes have been made with adults of course - and in their case, I think that's up to them - nobody makes them take part. What happens? Some of them bully each other, some of them fight and some of them cry. Of course, some have a great time and a few, like Ben Fogle, end up with strong careers as television presenters.
But they are adults. I don't think it's possible for a child to make an informed decision to be in such a programme: and I don't think it's fair for their parents to make that decision for them.
I'm with Ruby Parry, Cornwall's assistant director for social care and family services. "Some of the children were greatly distressed and this in our view is abusive. This distress has now been publicly broadcast to all of these children's peers and is therefore likely to have long-term consequences for some of them."
Of course, Channel Four could have chosen not to broadcast the bits where children were distressed - - but they were never going to withold those scenes, were they, because those are the bits that make good television.
I was one of the lucky ones: I was never bullied at school, in spite of being a swotty type with glasses. I was at the kind of school where that was acceptable: I had some great friends, some of whom are still my great friends now, and hardly ever had any trouble from anyone. My greatest crime was talking in assembly, which I did on a daily basis (I know that, if you know me, you'll perhaps not be too surprised by this).
But I know a number of people who were bullied throughout their schooldays, and I can't bear it in any way. When I was teaching I couldn't bear it either and when I found it happening I must say I never ignored it, I always followed it through and did my utmost to stop it. Sometimes, of course, it was the staff who were doing it, which was more tricky. I remember one PE teacher who seemed to get a perverse delight out of getting a class to line up perfectly, or to march, or whatever. Wow! Absolute power over a group of twelve-year olds! So very impressive an achievement!
I think children have enough to put up with. We should be trying to make their childhoods as safe, happy and secure as possible. So setting up a situation that was likely, by its very nature, to bring about quarrels, bullying, worry and misery, I think was just plain wrong. Okay, so some of the children might have enjoyed every moment. I'm more concerned about the ones who didn't, and their irresponsible parents.
Which in some cases, was not very well. Some of them bullied each other, some of them fought and some of them cried.
No, I didn't watch it, because I didn't want to. So amazing is my insight into human nature that, with really quite astonishing perception, I guessed this might happen.
William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies, about a group of public-school boys stranded on a beautiful tropical island, always had the ring of truth about it to me: the boys start off in a well-meaning way and quickly descend into savagery.
Normally I wouldn't criticise a television programme that I haven't seen, but I'm wading right in on this occasion. There's a letter in The Times from the Head of Factual Entertainment saying things like "trained child chaperones were present throughout and intervened to prevent injuries and also help to resolve or disarm any upset or fighting between the children."
Aha! So they too guessed it might not be all sweetness and light, did they? And did they, by any chance, think that this might make good television?
Similar programmes have been made with adults of course - and in their case, I think that's up to them - nobody makes them take part. What happens? Some of them bully each other, some of them fight and some of them cry. Of course, some have a great time and a few, like Ben Fogle, end up with strong careers as television presenters.
But they are adults. I don't think it's possible for a child to make an informed decision to be in such a programme: and I don't think it's fair for their parents to make that decision for them.
I'm with Ruby Parry, Cornwall's assistant director for social care and family services. "Some of the children were greatly distressed and this in our view is abusive. This distress has now been publicly broadcast to all of these children's peers and is therefore likely to have long-term consequences for some of them."
Of course, Channel Four could have chosen not to broadcast the bits where children were distressed - - but they were never going to withold those scenes, were they, because those are the bits that make good television.
I was one of the lucky ones: I was never bullied at school, in spite of being a swotty type with glasses. I was at the kind of school where that was acceptable: I had some great friends, some of whom are still my great friends now, and hardly ever had any trouble from anyone. My greatest crime was talking in assembly, which I did on a daily basis (I know that, if you know me, you'll perhaps not be too surprised by this).
But I know a number of people who were bullied throughout their schooldays, and I can't bear it in any way. When I was teaching I couldn't bear it either and when I found it happening I must say I never ignored it, I always followed it through and did my utmost to stop it. Sometimes, of course, it was the staff who were doing it, which was more tricky. I remember one PE teacher who seemed to get a perverse delight out of getting a class to line up perfectly, or to march, or whatever. Wow! Absolute power over a group of twelve-year olds! So very impressive an achievement!
I think children have enough to put up with. We should be trying to make their childhoods as safe, happy and secure as possible. So setting up a situation that was likely, by its very nature, to bring about quarrels, bullying, worry and misery, I think was just plain wrong. Okay, so some of the children might have enjoyed every moment. I'm more concerned about the ones who didn't, and their irresponsible parents.
posted by Daphne at 5:17 pm
2 Comments:
I hate so called reality TV programmes anyway - they are exploitative, cheap and, often, plain nasty. Like you, I didn't watch this one but it sounds like the worst form of exploitative reality TV - even if the children involved thought they were making an informed decision about taking part they would still have no control over how the programme is edited.
It's a bit like driving a car, you have no control over the other drivers on the road. So, no matter how good a driver you are, you might still be involved in an accident. This sounds like the ultimate in car crash TV.
I didn't watch the program but saw the adverts. Looked to be in very bad taste but that's what Channel 4 to in their quest to be edgy; they scrape the barrel of what can be exploited and then make a show of it.
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