Boys and Girls Alone-TV Series

**Romios** · February 05, 2009, 04:00 PM

An ambitious four-part documentary series sees ten boys and ten girls aged between eight and eleven being given the chance to experience life without mum and dad for two weeks. Living in two 'villages' and separated on gender lines, they decide everything about how they live - what they do, what they eat, when they get up, whether they clean and wash and how they organise and entertain themselves.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/boys-and-girls-alone/episode-guide/series-1

Alright, first of all am i the only one that finds that reality show sick and dangerous?

And secondly, how on earth is this legal ? And how come the UK Television Council gave permission for something like this?:hmmm:

**The Dude** · February 05, 2009, 04:03 PM

They probably assume that constant camera supervision will keep things from going wrong.

They'll eat their words when the kitchen knife falls from the kitchen table and impales a kid's foot.

**jankren** · February 05, 2009, 05:01 PM

This is a good social experiment. But yeah it shouldnt be legal in this time of age.

**The spartan** · February 05, 2009, 11:02 PM

Hecks yes I will watch this! This looks like hilarity in a bag...I wonder if there are any plastic bags loose in the house? I am kidding of course, but this does look interesting.

**Justice and Mercy** · February 05, 2009, 11:12 PM

I'm sure it'll be scripted

, like Kid Nation.

Who watches this

?

**Bovril** · February 06, 2009, 02:11 AM

I expect there will be constant adult supervision, not just monitoring the situation, but actually talking to the children and telling them what to do. You just won't see it on camera. That would spoil the gimmick. Besides, children of this age can do most things for themselves, including cooking and working out roughly when to go to bed etc. I'm sure they'llo do plenty of things they wouldn't be allowed to do normally at first, since breaking away from routine always has that effect initially. If it goes on long enough I expet their behaviour will normalise though.

**Romios** · February 06, 2009, 03:41 AM

From sky-news:

Cameras stayed with the children as they took part in the two-week experiment.
According to worried charities, some of the children were soon faced with bullying or violent behaviour.
And, although parents were allowed to take the children out of the houses at any time they wanted, one set refused to let a boy out.

The eight-year-old reportedly began beating his head against the wall after the refusal.
Another group of parents kept their nine-year-old in the house for three more days after he pleaded to be taken home.
The girls, while not subjected to physical intimidation, reportedly soon ended up in furious quarrels with one quoted as saying: "It's not fun at all, it's like a living nightmare."

Shame on the parents who did that to their children for the money.

**boofhead** · February 06, 2009, 04:18 AM

Kids need adults to steer them in the right direction. If they're just going to let them go to the extreme before stepping in, for the sake of ratings or proving a point, then it's child abuse.

I don't agree with such a show.

**Ketzerfreund** · February 06, 2009, 11:34 AM

Haven't they learnt from some of the terrible results from the 60s' experiments on anti-authoritarian education?

-Der Ketzerfreund.

**Copperknickers II** · February 07, 2009, 06:06 AM

Watched it on Tuesday. Seems ok to me, though a bit sad for keeping them in if they don't want to. Mind you, one of them gets threatened with a knife next week (obviously it is not scripted, but it is not live like big brother).

"The eight-year-old reportedly began beating his head against the wall after the refusal.
Another group of parents kept their nine-year-old in the house for three more days after he pleaded to be taken home.
The girls, while not subjected to physical intimidation, reportedly soon ended up in furious quarrels with one quoted as saying: "It's not fun at all, it's like a living nightmare."

1 - he did that once, and it is still grossly exxaggerated for effect. He tapped his head against the wall twice, and he's fine now.
2 - But they did take him home. And of course he wasn't exactly trying to fit in, he sprayed someone with emulsion paint and had to be taken in by one of the 'chaperones' who stop things if they get out of hand.
3 - Girls are always dramatic

**Richard** · February 07, 2009, 06:59 AM

Are they given weapons, or must they make their own?

**Romios** · February 07, 2009, 07:22 AM

It's unlikely these children are ever going to be in any real physical danger. Emotional harm however is much more likely especially for the younger kids there.

I also wonder about the type of parent who puts their kids forward for this sort of experiment.:hmmm: