Old School is the new New School
I've long puzzled at the popularity of parenting shows like Nanny 911 and Super Nanny. The thing I find most confusing about these shows is that the parents they showcase (a) obviously aren't crack addicts and (b) obviously weren't raised by crack addicts, yet they have completely abandoned the tried and true methods of previous generations that successfully produced themselves when it comes to raising their own children. Though not parents ourselves, Capt Mike and I are both of the opinion that if we turned out okay, our parents probably did a pretty good job; ere go we'll probably end up following their example if and when we have our own kids.
Apparently, Capt Mike and I can now be considered trendy for thinking this way. The new craze in parenting has a fancy nickname, "Free Range Parenting", but it pretty much boils down to some common sense: if you smother your kid with attention and fill every one of their waking moments with structured, supervised activities, you're going to end up with a stressed out child incapable of doing anything on their own. i.e., ditch the colour-coded fridge calendars, and let your kids be kids once in a while.
Comments
I think can explain the popularity, since I've been known to endulge in a few episodes, myself.
The reason why these shows are popular is because they make us feel superior. The producers choose families that for the most part have obvious dysfunctionality that will create a sense of moral superiority and indignation on the part of the viewer. I am sure that there are MANY many more episodes that don't get aired because there is simply nothing extraordinary about them.
It is true that raising kids is common sense. It is also true that sometimes common sense does not prevail when you're in the thick of it. For the times when it doesn't and you feel like a total screwup, I think many people have to admit that there is some amount of satisfaction, even if it is wrong to feel that way, to be derived from seeing someone else who has screwed up far worse so that you can also say "but... wow... that was even DUMBER. Man. What were they thinking? I'd have never handled it that way!" :-)
I've seen two episodes that didn't spark this reaction in myself personally. One was with Carney Wilson - who appeared to have a loving husband who shared the child raising responsibilities equitably, but was just overloaded because she has a lot of kids running around to deal with. The other was about a woman whose husband was working for a company that had a government contract in Iraq, and he was gone 9 months of the year to Iraq with limited and unpredictable times for him to be able to call home. The rest of the episodes usually feature parents who spoil their kids rotten and have no control or authority as a result, or the medival husband who believes when he comes home at the end of a "hard day at work" he should be treated like royalty and its' his wife's job to "handle" and discipline the children, and the wife refuses to stand up to him and make him deal. I'm just waiting for them to come out with a "Nanny 911 Aftermath: The Divorces" miniseries :-)
Posted by: heather at May 13, 2008 03:05 PM