Is anyone watching this age 10 and poor thing?

[Wotsitsareafterme]

Anyone?

[IamGrimalkin]

I'm watching it.. so sad! (and that's a complete understatement.)

[trickydickie]

Oh my goodness. I am really having to fight the tears.

It is unbelievably sad.

[PonyoLovesHam]

I just started a thread about it wotsits, sorry! Think a bit of an over lap there. Very sad viewing.

[Wotsitsareafterme]

Where pony?

[PonyoLovesHam]

Here just saying how sad it is really

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

I'm watching it. V.sad in places, and I don't doubt that these girls have it really tough, but it seems so set up in places it sort of loses its genuineness.

[Wotsitsareafterme]

No birthday present yet.

[PonyoLovesHam]

Is anyone watching?

Interesting viewing especially following the recent threads on MN about kids not having Xmas presents. An 8 year old girl was just shown having noodles to eat 3 days a week, telling her mum there's nothing in the fridge.

I know this happens, I've worked with families with these problems, but it's still heartbreaking. Our local food bank I donate to is shutting down because it's being seen as a long term fix (by the council) rather than a short term solution which is what the volunteers who set it up intended it to be :(

That's what I wrote on the thread I started above. The 8 yo without a bday present :(

[Wotsitsareafterme]

It is about like that but these kids are real and it is happening

[PonyoLovesHam]

That girl getting the new wardrobe from the street that she was so happy about... Then saying how she was called a "tramp" so much by her friends, I just hoped that doesn't stick for her.

[IamGrimalkin]

I was just thinking the same thing. Those little children now have to contend with the possibility that their peers will see this programme.

[Wotsitsareafterme]

I was shocked how much the uniform cost is that normal?

[Wotsitsareafterme]

The blonde girl with the dozen siblings is so gorgeous

[Oldraver]

Twelve I thought the same, something doesn't seem right with the programme. Almost like it is scripted.

[IamGrimalkin]

I can quite believe the cost of the uniform. My ds has just started high school and his P.E kit alone was more than £50. It's ridiculous!

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

I think they have just heavily directed it, in order to cover different subjects - peer pressure, food, school uniform etc. But it means that some of what they are saying doesn't sound genuine, which does the kids a HUGE disservice because of course it is a real problem.

It also makes you question what you're seeing. So I completely believe that the girl who hated noodles (Anya?) had to eat them frequently because that was all they had in the cupboards. But when that is shown in what seems to be a set-up 'scene' about noodles, it makes it look less believable - and left me wondering just what was in the baking dish behind them covered in foil if they had no other food in the house...

The off-script bits were much more revealing, and sadder to me. Like the little boy trying to cheer up his sister while they were getting hassle selling their possessions.

[TwelveLeggedWalk]

As far as my comments are concerned, that's a judgement of the TV Production team. Not the kids, not the families and their financial situation, and not the crappy politics which have created the problem.

I think it's completely fair enough to say 'this is a really important problem but I don't think this particular programme has handled it very well.'

That's not the same thing as saying 'I don't believe this is a problem'

[ghostspirit]

i think some of it is down to the parents budgeting though. super noodles for 3 days. she said she does not always eat. so base it on the 2 kids. super noodles about a pound a pack. thats 6.00 could have bought better stuff for 6.00.

also she was paying debts of. maybe alot of people dont know but there are alot of debts you can get away with not paying or pay very little a month. or let them take her to court so she can be means tested.

the guy who had the larger family and his parents living with him he had no rent/mortage to pay as his mum had bought the place outright. so he would be getting child benefit and childtax credits. for them children. and i guess the grand parents would have had their pensions.

it does not make much sense.

having said that it was about the children living in poverty. so maybe thats what they were showing children living in poverty how ever it came about

[LegoAdventCalendar]

'i think some of it is down to the parents budgeting though. super noodles for 3 days. she said she does not always eat. so base it on the 2 kids. super noodles about a pound a pack. thats 6.00 could have bought better stuff for 6.00. '

And the super noodles need only a kettle to cook. Not turning on the cooker or oven. Ever seen a leccy meter ping when you turn on the hob or oven?

Water to heat to do the washing up? Water is not free nor is heating it.

The super noodles cook in their own pot.

It's easier to blame the parents, though.

[ghostspirit]

but children should always come first before debts

[LegoAdventCalendar]

And how is it not? They may well have negotiated them down as low as you can go. And if it's council tax debt or HMRC debt (overpayment of tax credits) you don't have a lot of wiggle room sometimes. It's not an option to not pay those debts or pay less than has been negotiated.

How do you know the debt is not from putting the kids first in the past, like to pay the mortgage so they keep the roof over their heads?

[ghostspirit]

thats the thing the programme has not given us enough information.

Not saying im right but for me. if i fed my kids noodles 3 times a week. and my kids repeated that at school. their school would have social services on my door step. if i then told them oh they eat noodles because i have to pay of by depts i would be done for neglect because you cant not feed your kids.

but saying that like you say they well may have been in xyz situation we dont know because the programme never told us.

[cantthinkofanythingwitty]

What channel is this programme on?

[Blu]

"super noodles about a pound a pack. thats 6.00 could have bought better stuff for 6.00. "

Instant noodles are 18p a pack in Lidl.

And never mind the electricity -there is a very high % of families living n poverty who simply don't have a cooker