to let ds watch supernanny in the hope...

[MayorNaze]

that he will understand how his behaviour makes us feel and understand why he is not allowed to have whatever he wants and do whatever he wants

it ctually seems to be working as well

How? is he correcting your parenting mistakes?

I'd be afraid of copycat behaviour myself.

no, i mean so he can see that it is not just us who think it is not ok to be cheeky and rude and throw tantrums if he doesn't get his own way. he is getting quite into it and is actually quite shocked that we think his behaviour at times is comparable to thse awful children.

how old is he?
if it seems to be working as you said, then whats the harm?

he is 10. most of the time he is a normal 10 yr old boy and as lovely as 10yr old boys can be but he is capable of such awful temper tantrums that we are actually seeking outside help for it

but maybe we need supernanny instead

Well, I would say that you all may benefit from having her around if he is still having tantrums at 10 (provided there is not a medical condition underlying those tantrums).

You need help, and you need it soon, it may get very nasty if they are not sorted out before he hits teenage.

Is he making the connection between the awful tantruming children on the screen and his own behaviour, or is he just enjoying the spectacle?

He is substantially older than most of the children featured on the programme, and it would probably be easy for him to disassociate his own tantrums from theirs - after all, he doesn't get in a big old paddy about a highchair like them, does he?

I mean, I am very scathing about those people who can't get themselves together enough to eat proper meals most of the time. Doesn't mean that my diet is exemplary. >

I can't see how it will hurt, however. I'd just be wary of investing too much hope in him identifying and improving his own bad behaviour as a result of watching it.

Good luck. I do hope things improve for you all soon.

Never let my kids watch it. I don't want them to know that such awful behaviour (and language!) is even possible!

Well, if his bad behaviour is already enough of a problem that you're looking around for drastic solutions, and this seems to bee working (I'd definitely take pains to point out how much he's acting like 'babies' where appropriate!) then I don't see any harm.

It's not like he was an angel, then watched the show and learned things. He's old enough that you can explain it to him as well, and put it inot perspective; maybe getting him to see that other children who do what he did have the stigma of being shown up on telly and judged across the nation will really make the lesson stick!

I'm all for innovative methods myself - use whatever resources are at hand. And if it works quite effectively, let us all know. It's good to have another weapon in the anti-tantrum arsenal!

Normally well behaved 7 yr old ds1 watched a few (very) early morning episodes with me when ds2 was new born and def copied some of the behaviours. Particularly answering back and 'huffing'. he loved it but I stopped him watching it after a few days.

I let my 11 yr old dd who has asd watch it, she still has mahoooooooosive temper tantrums for one reason and that is to get what she wants.She screams, spits, punches herself in the face, calls herself names etc.

Havent got a clue why she hasnt changed tactic yet as it dosent work !!

Watching the programme has had an impact on her,as she finds it difficult to emphasise watching these sort of programmes help her to see things from both sides.

They slso show her i'm not 'being a bully' when I don't allow something for her own good!!

My goddaughter (age 6) watches it with us sometimes and it's a good way to talk about bad behaviour (how rude those children are ) and the consequences.... she's not a bad kid, so it's hard to know if it's made any difference - however, she certainly hasn't copied any of the stuff she's seen. Mind you, she also loves 'How clean is your house' and we have fun 'ewwwwwing' at that