Supernanny gets a kicking in the Guardian today....

[harpsichordcarrier]

blimey, this interview makes her sound so v thick

[MrsJohnCusack]

oh don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the programme (or bad pronunciation either)

but I don't think not being possessed of v.high intelligence is neccesarily a bar to being a successful nanny and I just felt that highlighting the pronunciation on top of all the other points was over-egging the pudding. Supernanny's voice is very grating though; I think because I am a bit over sensitive to voices/pronunciation myself I try to give people the benefit of the doubt, and when I see someone dare to pick someone up on it I am always slightly taken aback and wonder 'is that allowed then'

The programme is crap though, and as others have said, is too focused on the child being bad rather than the behaviour.

[edam]

I think an MNr had Jo Frost round for a magazine article and reported that she is lovely. They said the children cried when she left.

Thing is the disciplinarian styling of the show isn't really what it's about - Jo gets down on the floor in sensible clothes and plays with the kids. Yes, she's very clear about what she defines as 'unacceptable behaviour' but she's not just having a go at the children, she sorts out things the parents are doing wrong too.

Decca clearly comes from a very different school of parenting and went in ready to do battle. But I don't see why not being terribly academic makes Jo Frost such a bad person - 9/10 of people with primary care of children across the world and across time have been people without degrees, who learnt from their own families.

[Blondilocks]

But surely if the child wasn't bad then it would have bad behaviour and it would be pointless being on the programme?

[Blondilocks]

• it wouldn't have bad behaviour

[fattiemumma]

well having dealt with a vast number of proffessionals n the field of child pyschology and challenging behaviour and after doing my own research we (all of those i have discusssed this with) are all of the opinion that her methods are confusing to say the least and would not work long term.

she seems to have taken a litle from this practice and a little from another.
yes i agree that Decca didn't seem too convinced about her prior to the iterview but so what? she can only quote what was actully said. your not suggesting she has misquoted her? so those incorrect uses of words were true.

i think she is creating far more poorly behave children because parents who are struggling with challenging behaviour will watch her show and try and copy what she does....and its really not a one size fits all approach that she likes to make it out to be

[edam]

And let's face it, academic experts have come up with some very dodgy theories in the past (Truby King, for example). I don't see that an understanding of behavioural psychology necessarily makes you a better childcare guru than someone with practical experience.

[southeastastra]

that's true fmamma but she is at least providing some sort of guidance

[MrsJohnCusack]

no I mean aren't you supposed to concentrate on saying 'that was a bad thing to do' rather than 'you are bad' (what do I know, DD is only 19 months)

not that the kids aren't behaving badly

[MrsJohnCusack]

oh edam said what I wanted to just then

[harpsichordcarrier]

I think that JF doesn't deal very well (or at all) with the exploitation issue - which is pretty pertinent I would say and is what makes me feel very uncomfortable indeed watching these programmes.
the montage of young children pictured on the naughty step with a caption of their misdemeanours made me feel positivelt queasy

[FairyMum]

I have only watched the programme once. Once I have tucked mine firmly into bed, why would I turn on the tv to weatch other peoples children have tantrums?

However, I find the idea of watching "dysfunctional" families and especially these "naughty" children tasteless and uncomfortable. Surely children must have some sort of right to privacy too and they cannot give their consent.

[blueshoes]

Never bought into this supernanny business.

It is the sort of behavioural techniques more suited for training animals than nurturing responsible adults. I would be less dismissive if used by schools or nursery staff who had to control large numbers of children with no time to get to the bottom of bad behaviour.

But to advocate that parents' use such methods is convenience parenting. The best way to get children onside is to get inside their heads ie spend lots of time with children, getting to know them and having lots of positive experiences. But that is far too time consuming to be fashionable.

[southeastastra]

yes but it's a good guide - some techniques work

[fattiemumma]

harpsy - i thought the same thing.
i can just imagine some poor child having been told off and sent to the Naughty step(what a vile phrase) then to have its parent shove a camara in its face so that his misdemeanours can be published for the world to see.

can you imagine the parent telling all her freinds that her LO is in the mag..thus the childs freinds lso finding out and laughing.

itis all rather (to coin JF's phrase) disgusting and showing no respect.

[edam]

But blueshoes, she does exactly that - gets parents to spend more time paying attention to their children. As does Tanya Bryon.

[edam]

I did think the mag feature with pics of children on the naughty step was tasteless though - only saw it once so no idea if they've done it again.

[Socci]

Message withdrawn

[SSSandy]

Oh don't get me started on wife swap.

In Germany they always go around complaining about how filthy the other woman's home is, running their fingers along shelves with a look of disgust and telling the dh what a slob his wife is.

Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[southeastastra]

i think you are writing these programmes off too quickly!

[blueshoes]

yes, these TV parenting "gurus" talk about improving the relationship, but you see some half-baked attempt at family togetherness, followed by screaming children on naughty steps, star charts. The relationship is almost by-the-way, the real emphasis is on achieving obedience (I hate that word) NOW.

The children on these programmes are still little. It is never too late to seriously work on improving the relationship. But it is a constant day-to-day thing and change in attitude that takes a lot of effort on the part of the parent and time to work, not a one-off treat or trip to the park.

[FairyMum]

How do you get children who are supposed to be so badly behaved to sit on the naughty step ? I think my own are fairly well behaved, but they would not in a million years take orders like that from me??

[southeastastra]

you don't have to agree with it, but it provides solutions

[edam]

Hope the MNr who actually had Jo Frost in sees this and can tell us whether Supernanny stuff worked long-term.

Thing that bothers me about the article, really, is the sneering, middle-class tone. FWIW I do actually prefer Tanya Bryon. But I can't stand the sort of 'how DARE this common woman try to tell us how to bring up our children, without so much as a PhD to her name' attitude.