** Trigger Warning** DV Thread title changed by MNHQ Anne Robinson's Britain - Parenting anyone?

[Hepzibar]

See mumsnet got a mention.

Some of these are

Anne Robinson was very open about her background, she was an out of control alcoholic for years and her daughter was looked after by the dad. It was good that she was so honest. It was also lovely to see how her daughter and her got on ok after all that.

How can you think devoting your life to your children is selfish!!

Easily. The way it was presented she was the one who was insisting on spending all day, every day with her kids, home schooling them in a noisy and chaotic situation, keeping the father at arm's length until they're of toddler age. She clearly has a desperate need to be with her kids but it all seemed to be on her terms.

The only thing that annoyed me about the programme was that the hardworking mother we saw was completely a typical- editor in chief of vogue or whatever is scarcely a normal job. I would have liked to see someone normal and the struggles they have - they were all a big wacky!

The other reason I'm being hard on myself is that most of my family is in the media business ! Oh well, no more sympathy here then

Really saddened by the comment from the London mum though

"how every many generations they are, they will always be seen as immigrants, and need to achieve more to get by"

Yes that really jumped out didn't it? Depressingly, I suspect she's right.

Yup I should know better

The 'chaotic' nature of the home schooled children may well have been specifically edited. We don't know if 2 minutes before they weren't sitting round the table do we?

Well that's the risk people take I suppose when they choose to participate in these shows. People can only judge on what ends up on screen.

It was very carefully edited! As you would expect really, wouldn't you.

I wish they had asked the religious dad what the consequences were for the children and the wife if they stepped out of line. It felt like it was a question that needed asking as the children seemed scared to say the wrong thing or act naturally imo.

I remember a so called relative on that other thread too. I'm always more wary these days...

That religious dad was creepy. I can't imagine my 17 year old sister sitting holding hands under a table with our dad. That would be weird tbh. When I saw the clip of that at the beginning, I assumed they were a couple. It was a very coupley thing to do.

I wouldn't want children like mindless robots anyway. That's how I was brought up and I really struggle with dealing with emotions and stuff as an adult. Particularly anger as I wasn't allowed to express my anger so I had to try and push it down. Even now if I don't do something quite right or say something that I 'shouldn't' I'll get pulled up on it. I'm in my 30's ffs! I feel sorry for those children even though they did come across lovely.

the religious family were interesting. I worked overseas alongside a lot of evangelical Christians. His theology and the way he ran the house were fairly common among American Christians we knew. Less so from Christians from Europe.
I am also a Christian, and I was very close to some of the mums. We talked at length about these issues and the one thing that always struck me was that this was a genuine choice by the wife. They found security and safety and harmony in letting someone else take control.
Dh and I talked about it at length too, it was as alien for him as for me, but we came to the conclusion that for some women this was actually an easy life.
I think it would be easy to spill over into control, but it doesn't necessarily and didn't in any of the families we knew.

The children though, in my experience, tend to fall into 3 categories.

1. - totally buy in to this way of expressing their faith and follow in parents footsteps. They struggle to deal with points of view and people who don't fall into their circle. Ever decreasing more inward looking Christian circles. I think this is where much of the US fundamentalist american right comes from.
2. - secret rebels. They are quite a dangerous group, as they pretend to go along with it all, but out of sight engage in everything forbidden. I think this group learn very well how to be hypocrites etc which is why they are dangerous.

3.- outright rebels. Go off to university and throw off all of their parents values, and do their own thing. Often leads to break down in relationship between them and their parents and they can get into danger as they can launch head first into alcohol/drugs etc without any guidelines and get hurt. Parents just cannot understand how their parenting went wrong. It doesn't always mean they throw off their faith either, just their parents way of doing it.

I am always surprised that the parents can't see it coming, it seems such an obvious thing to me.

stepmum Don't you feel that hypocrisy is very much what lot of religions are about? That would definitely lead to the children becoming disenchanted with the parents.

Jesus said that everyone should be submissive not just women.

Also most teenagers DO rebel against their parents regardless of their beliefs.

no, as a christian I don't think most religions are about hypocrisy. I think my kids woudl see through that pretty quickly.
In fact, I would go further and say integrity is an essential part of my faith.

I think it is perfectly normal for teenagers to rebel against their parents. Which is one reason why I don't understand why this group of parents tend to be surprised when their kids do. But there is a difference here, the rules are so strict that they throw them all out, and go to an extreme opposite, often endangering themselves. They become extreme risk takers as a reaction against extreme control.

Caught up with the programme yesterday and I was seriously taken aback!! I mean who stays at home with a handful of children 24/7 and is patient and smiling ALL the time!?! And who has children who are obedient, respectful and answer your questions as you would like them to?!? If my children were like that I'd be scared there's something seriously wrong with them because either they have robotic minds that just says whatever is fed or I'm the mother from hell to whom my children can't really say what they mean and feel.

I'm curious on the reaction of the dad if one fine day one of his children questions everything he states and imposes.

I think it all gets a bit misleading. If the families had cameras 24/7, then I might believe that that's the case and I'm just bonkers because I get frustrated and sometimes I just want to get away from it all just to restore my senses. Probably the religious family's children were instructed before Anne arrived to meet them on what is expected of them and the mum who is keeping her children with her all the time just wishes to revert her decision on how to bring up her children but feels like it's too late now.

I'm just guessing here and assuming but that's what the programme is, an assumption on how they live based on a 10 minute slot!

You can't assume you know how they live based on 10 minutes on camera. 2 words: clever editing! I personally know this family and the way they were portrayed is not how they are in real life! Their marriage is a partnership as every marriage should be and the children are not mindless robots but instead have their own beliefs and views on everything. It's a shame to see how this ten minute clip on tv has made the nation think they're some sort of controlled family when it's the exact opposite

That's nice! As has been said about other posters who 'know' someone... slander, right of reply, etc etc.

Seriously?!?!..why would I waste my time finding this thread and comment..