The Family and Parenting Institute is alarmed by the broadcasting of exploitative parenting series such as Bringing Up Baby. Many techniques used in these programmes are outdated and completely fly in the face of our scientific knowledge about brain development in very young babies.

I'M A LITTLE KID, GET ME OUT OF HERE

On Monday 12 November the Royal Television Society hosted a debate with Eileen Hayes, Parenting Advisor, NSPCC, Mary MacLeod, Chief Executive, Family and Parenting Institute, Laura Mansfield, Executive Producer, The House of Tiny Tearaways, and Tanya Shaw, Executive Producer, Bringing Up Baby, chaired by Conor Dignam, Publishing Director, Broadcast. To read Mary MacLeod's speech, Icon: Microsoft Word Documentclick here Icon: Link to another website.

Coverage of the debate in The Daily Mail, The Times, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph.

OTHER PRESS COVERAGE

The Guardian, Monday 5 November, 2007
Why Ofcom needs much more bottle - Mary MacLeod argues that Ofcom needs to get to grips with television's exploitation of newborn babies and their parents> The watchdog should offer much more detailed guidance to help broadcasters know what is acceptable and what isn't; and the Government should enable Ofcom to use its teeth when responding to complaints.

British Journalism Review, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2007
For the sake of the children - Fiona Millar
FPI's Chair sets the programmes in context and summarises FPI's survey, carried out in 2006.

Community Practitioner, Vol. 80, No. 11, November 2007
Icon: Acrobat PDFUnite/CPHVA protests over extreme methods in baby programme. The journal of the Community Practitioners' and Health Visitors' Association argues that the parenting methods shown are distressing to parents and to babies.

Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 16 October, 2007
Bringing Up Baby is 'dangerous' say experts

BRINGING UP BABY

The following letter was published in the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday 16 October 2007:
Sir

As a group of academics and professionals we are alarmed that Channel 4 is broadcasting such an exploitative parenting series as Bringing Up Baby – the last part of which is to be shown tomorrow. Many techniques used in these programmes are outdated and completely fly in the face of our scientific knowledge about brain development in very young babies.

That anyone should be billed as an expert and allowed to promote ideas such as not making eye contact with babies and not comforting them when they are in distress is at best irresponsible and at worst dangerous. And to see these theories being put into practice with real babies in the name of entertainment is deeply worrying.

Last year, the Family and Parenting Institute surveyed parents to ask them their opinions on TV parenting programmes and some 83% of the respondents said that they found a technique in these programmes helpful to them. So with these programmes having such an influence on parents it is shocking that broadcasters are not exercising more responsibility.

Sadly the exploitation of both babies and children in the pursuit of high ratings is becoming ever more common: the BBC3 programme Baby Borrowers earlier this year was another case in point where babies and young children were "lent" to teenage couples in a programme that was intended to bring in viewers by being shocking.

We call on all production companies to stop making television programmes which give parents irresponsible advice and turn the suffering of tiny babies and children into adult entertainment.

Mary MacLeod
Chief Executive
Family and Parenting Institute

Penny Mansfield
Director
One plus One

Dorit Braun
Chief Executive
Parentline Plus

Dr Shirley Gracias
Chair
The Association for Infant Mental Health UK

Dr Cheryll Adams
Acting Lead Professional Officer
Unite-Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association

Christine Bidmead
Chair of Health Visiting Forum
Unite-Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association

Stephen Scott BSc FRCP FRCPsych
Professor of Child Health & Behaviour
Consultant Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist
King's College, London

Helen Dent
Chief Executive
Family Welfare Association

PETITION

Clive Dorman of The Children's Project has set up a petition on the Prime Minister's website which reads "We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to take urgent action to protect infants and their parents from television programmes that promote outdated and discredited parenting theories."
See also Clive Dorman's blog, Social Baby.com

FPI SURVEY

Icon: Acrobat PDFThe power of parenting TV programmes Icon: Link to another website - help or hazard for today's families?
Family and Parenting Institute Survey conducted by MORI, August and September 2006, which aims to understand more about public attitudes to parenting TV programmes and about parents' reactions to them.

Last updated: 13th December 2007 at 03:12:33