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The Groups
Oh really?
Just hanging around on a Friday with GM. We are getting ready for a (rerun) of Martha and I am thinking about what to serve her for lunch. And then I am totally mesmaraized by a fall tv show promo on NBC. “Interesting”, I think. And then the tag line pops up, “It’s not tv. It’s birth control.”
And here is the problem; I can’t decide if I am offended or not. Am I? Are you?
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20 Responses to “Oh really?”
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It is wrong on so many levels I cannot even begin to digest it. I have been aware of this abusive show for quite some time. Taking children that small out of their safety zones at such a hugely crucial stage of their lives, motivated I am sure for monetary means is so wrong it should be considered abuse. I am sure they say they were careful etc. It is TOTAL BULLSHIT!!!!!!! I am so sorry for each of those babies and their parents should be forced to take parenting classes.
I’m amused and offended.
I’m amused because they’re TEENAGERS and like all teenagers, ignorantly walk into something like it’s sooo easy because, what, they’re 18 and been through high school? Puh-leez. The real world is so much harder than that.
What offends me is that they would present this show as “ohhh children are so horrible and there’s nothing good about it” Do they show the good? Do they show the sweet moments?
But I guess since these children are just dropped into strangers laps, there probably aren’t any sweet moments, since they’re probably TERRIFIED.
is it wrong that i am totally NOT offended? like, at all?
i’m not offended, considering i saw two teenaged girls this week, pregnant as can be. they looked miserable and i felt for them and the choices they had made. what i don’t understand is who the hell would lend their babies out. i guess some people will do anything for money.
I saw the ad for that a while back, and was conflicted, and still am. And I totally don’t know who would offer their kids up for that. I hope/assume they follow the hollywood guidelines for such things, and the parents are around, and the kids are given back to them after a few minutes/hours on screen. :-/
Hmmm…offended…probably not. I’m confused as to where in the world those babies are coming from (ie, who’s letting them be “borrowed”??)…offended by the idea put forth that babies are only trouble, but I can kinda see what they’re trying to do…will be interesting to watch this one…
So, I am not offended just disturbed by the fact that this is not considered child abuse. Also, what kind of parent makes their kid miserable for money? GROSS!
There may be very valid reasons to be offended but at first glance, I’m not. I would hope that it’s done in a very controlled manner (ie parents around, etc), if so, why not. I mean, babies are in day care all the time away from their parents, and as long as there is supervision of the babies and “borrowers” by child care experts, I really don’t see a problem with it. The upshot of the show is that it could help a lot of kids wait to have babies until they’re older and mature enough to accept that responsibility.
We’ve had a very similar programme in the UK for a while now and I’ve watched on occasion. It’s fascinating watching the teens, most of whom profess to want to get pregnant as soon as they can, and are totally cocky and confident that they can handle it realise how incredibly difficult and challenging looking after a kid can be (they’ve had them with those life-like newborn dolls they use for Sex Ed classes, littlies, toddlers and 3 year olds I think). They do seem to have the kids full time, on their own, but are constantly monitored and the parents are always on site. That said, I’m not sure why these people would hand their kids over. I’ve seen parents crying, watching their kid get ignored or left hungry or tired cos the teenagers are struggling. To me that seems odd, but then as Lisa said, people leave their kids in the care of others (including teenage babysitter) fairly often. Oddly, the parents didn’t seem to have been money motivated - most of them were older, middle class people - perhaps they felt it was an important social experiment? It certainly put the majority of participating teenagers off wanting to start a family until they were more stable and mature. The trailer seems very negative, but there were some lovely, sweet moments shown in the UK version. Offended? Undecided.
I can see it being good for teaching teens that parenting is not a game. I see way too many teen parents who don’t have the first clue about how to care for their children.
But where are they getting the babies? Who in their right mind would offer their baby up for that?
I am offended, and I’m not at the same time. I’m offended that they would do this to the children, that the parents of the children would allow their babies to be used in this way. I’m offended as well, by the way the promotional commercial makes children out to just be hard work and exhaustion, leaving out all the beautiful things that come along with that- including their beautiful faces when they collapse from exhaustion.
I’m not offended in that there are so many teenagers who truly don’t have a clue what it means to have a baby. They assume it’s only the beautiful faces, and the love that comes with it. That the crying, and late nights, early mornings are for someone else.
But, I think that there are other ways of teaching these teenagers about the realities without exploiting real children.
don’t think i’m offended but maybe a little surprised/confused. who in the hell would lend their kids to these people for a social experiment/reality show is my first thought!?
Heh. I don’t think I’m offended. It actually reminds me of when I was a teenager and nannied during the summer. People would say, Oh, are you going to want lots of kids when you get older…and I would reply that did want kids someday, but nannying was great birth control. I think it’s just recognizing that while kids are wonderful, they aren’t just a small change to your life.
I think it is a great idea and I am not offended at all. When I was a teenager I had 4 nephews that were 3 years old. I always said spending time with them at family gatherings was the best birth control going.
I think it’s wrong in so many ways. I guess technically the kids are never alone with babies, but I think any parent willing to hand over their baby to inexperienced children is insane. I understand the teaching lesson they’re trying to do but you can do that with “robot babies!”
I find that being offended about anything is generally a huge waste of time. I confess I’m a fan of the What White People Like blog and a recent post on Being Offended hit the nail on the head of my experience.
Am I “offended” by what I saw here? No. Do I think people of any age should probably have a better sense of the gravity, importance, and challenges of parenthood? Absolutely. By only contemplating the joys and not the work or difficulty involved, it bleeds meaning from all parties’ experience.
And I’ll end with a caveat: childfree people seem to always have a lot of opinions about children and parenthood. I’m no exception.
Why don’t they use puppies or kittens that lost their mothers and need to be bottle fed? It would accomplish the same task but do good- fostering the orphan animals. Although I suppose the name of the game is ratings and puppies and kitties aren’t that exciting.
Fascinating. My first thought watching this was not at all about the babies as people have mentioned here (but now I do wonder about parents who would agree to this) but about the teens. It seems like this show is likely to increase the “teen bashing” that occurs in this country. Now I’m not advocating for teens becoming parents but I think we need to recognize that many teen parents work very hard and do an excellent job. At the same time there are many adults who are just as clueless as these teens when they have children. Some of them don’t do such a great job.
I’m not offended, but what bothers me more than that is that I’m not surprised by it. Just another piece of trash labeled as “reality tv”. The one salvaging point tho, is that perhaps this might prevent a few babies being born to children that absolutely have NO FREAKING IDEA what they’re getting themselves into.
Actually, I am a little offended - that the parents of these children were willing to subject them to this kind of crap. Just my (slightly bitter?) opinion tho.
Yep, I’m offended. Lending babies out like they’re objects and not people. HUH? I can’t imagine doing that with mine when they were younger, although looking back I was a little over protective. But still, it’s wrong, IMHO.
Karen