Mary has picked up on the news of a reality-TV show which the BBC recently broadcast, in which five "couples" aged between 16 and 19 were filmed attempting to look after children who were loaned to them for a few days.
Here is the BBC3 information about the programme. They tell us: Britain's teenagers are breeding like rabbits - can they be convinced to wait? We tool up five teenage couples for the toughest job of all - parenting.The Daily Mail reports on the story in an article titled Fury as TV teenagers play house with REAL babies. They point out:
Our series is packed with tears and tantrums as the teens get to grips with the reality of being 'grown-ups'. How will they cope with childcare and, more importantly, each other? Will they take to parenthood and adult life like a duck to water or run home to mum? Find out, when you meet the 'parents' in this unique social experiment.
Local authority officials were so concerned about the 'very real risk' of physical and psychological damage to the children that they urged the BBC to cancel the series.In her excellent post on this experiment, Talk is cheap and so is life, Mary asks,
Relationship? What kind of a "relationship" do children aged 16-19 have anyway? Certainly it is devoid of commitment which is supposed to be the basis of a relationship. And why ever didn't law enforcement get involved and charge the parents and production company with child labor, or neglect or something?In the Catholic Church in England and Wales, current practice for safeguarding children means that grandmothers who have worked in the parish for decades will be run through Criminal Record Bureau checks, interviewed, and have references taken up. We're planning some more training to make sure everyone knows and agrees to some common basics of good practice for keeping children safe.
I am more than happy to get all this done if it means that we close all the loopholes we can, and make sure that our work with children and young people is of the best possible quality. My parishioners take a generous and responsible attitude to the personal inconvenience involved, and I have had help from some excellent people (retired Headteacher, police officer with experience in child protection, social workers etc.) who have given their time to this important work.
But it is increasingly obvious that where safeguarding children is concerned, there is one rule for the Church and another for the media.
4 comments:
Whilst the protection of children is of utmost importance we seem to have gone way over the top in the UK.
This BBC program will have done a lot of good if it helps in any way to reduce teenage sexual activity with the dangers of unexpected pregnancies and the horrors of abortion.
The idea of putting teenagers off childbirth is the justification for the programme. I think this is problematic in itself.
The underlying message is no doubt "use a condom" and we have long experience in the UK of how that approach does not decrease teenage sexual activity but encourages it.
I appreciate your desire to see the best in the programme but frankly, I cannot see much good coming from it - even leaving aside the question of using children in what the makers call a "social experiment."
I understand that the programme makers have brought in various "experts" to monitor the care of the children and that should any of the children be in any danger or being neglected, they will step in and make changes. ( A bit like being called to the Big Brother diary room and given a rollicking). The deeper and more long-term effects of this programme will not be to the children taking part (although any parent that agrees to their baby being minded by the teenagers must be very brave indeed)but to the social engineering of ideas that will result. The message is clearly intended to be: don`t become a parent too young. It`s very hard and you won`t cope very well. The RIGHT message to our precious young people needs to be quite different: Sexual activity is designed for and only for marriage. Take time to find the right person and don`t fall into the trap of having sex before then. I can hear the programme makers laughing now.
I would love to make a programme for young people about how to do this,. The script was already wirtten over twenty years ago and it is ripe for disseminating amongst the young today. JP11s The Theology of the Body is it. It makes condoms look like yesterday`s bad idea. Give me six weeks with the same group of 16-19 yr olds and - (based on the belief that orthodox Catholicity WORKS because its true)- see how many of them want to risk becoming a teenage pregancy statistic then. Am I being naive ?
The TV series, you see, will pepper the whole thing with "touching" moments which will translate as: See? teenagers CAN be good parents - Look at how Jason complied with his ASBO restrictions, all because he had some responsibility for once....... you get the idea.
Satan has had his clutches on mass media for a long time. Up until now, the attacks have been more subtle. Even by tempting us to just sit and watch TV programs rather than read a book, pray, or visit with family.
Now it seems that the gloves have been coming off recently in Europe and America as far as mass media goes. Blatant sin and blasphemy no longer needs to hide behind subtlety to be accepted. This is our cue to start taking a look in the mirror. It's no accident that the vultures are circling overhead, we've allow ourselves to rot by dropping our crosses behind us a long time ago. If we're smart we'll repent and pick up our crosses.
This doesn't suprise me at all.
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