Big Brother-style children's show defended
Channel 4 has defended a “bold and ambitious” show which looks at how children as young as eight would cope without their parents for a fortnight.
'Boys And Girls Alone' has drawn comparisons with Channel 4’s Big Brother and sees children upset, tussling, squabbling and feeling “picked on”.
The broadcaster said the show features bickering and disagreements and “the kind of tussling you’d get in any playground” – but no physical violence.
It said that one boy pointed a knife and fork during the series, but emphasised that no one was in any danger.
The programme lets 10 boys and 10 girls aged between eight and 11 experience life without their parents for two weeks.
Living in two separate villages, they create their own mini-societies and decide everything about how they live – what they do, what they eat, when they get up, if they clean and wash up and how they organise and entertain themselves.
The Daily Mirror quoted Labour MP Denis MacShane as saying: “Children should be protected and not exploited for commercial gain.”
And Liz Carnell of charity Bullying UK told the newspaper: “This just sounds like Big Brother Junior.
“And considering the amount of bullying-related complaints we get about that show it is certainly not an environment young people should be placed in.”
But Channel 4 said: “There was the kind of tussling you’d get in any playground, but definitely no physical violence.
“Similarly, there were bickering and disagreements. The boys were not very good at fending for themselves and struggled to make food.
“But the girls were making cupcakes and canapes. This is not a project for commercial gain, it is done with the parents’ full consent.
“They were watching and there were mentors and a clinical psychologist who made sure there were no problems.”
Those behind the show said the four-part series, starting tomorrow, comes as many fear modern society is making children grow up too quickly, while others are convinced of a nation of “cotton wool kids”.
The programme looks at whether “living in a safe environment”, the children will be able to get along and cope without adults telling them what to do.
As they build their new worlds, the boys and girls are observed on TV monitors by their parents as well as trained chaperones 24 hours a day.
In the first programme, the children arrive in their new surroundings and get to know each other, with comfy beds, stocks of food, necessities and toys.
Conforming to stereotype, while the girls bake cakes and make canapes, the boys have a gigantic water fight and eat sweets, crisps and chips with cheese.
But the wet and hungry boys soon start to miss their mothers and re-consider the benefits of having rules and parents to wash and cook.
Meanwhile the girls squabble over sleeping and cooking arrangements and, as they split into factions, some of them feel “picked on”, the show said.
The programme will be shown on Channel 4 at 9pm on Tuesday, February 3.
