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Posted: 03 January 2007 at 10:53pm | IP Logged

Is anyone else worried about this program? I would never let my son in the care of random teenagers for entertainment!

I just read this article too!

The BBC has been urged to cancel a new reality TV show over fears that vulnerable children were being put at risk, child protection experts said.

Concerned welfare workers wanted to stop The Baby Borrowers from being filmed because they feared children were being placed in "stressful and risky situations" in the interests of "factual entertainment".

The reality show, which starts on Monday on BBC Three, has been described as a "unique social experiment" in which five teenage couples look after children from a range of ages, from babies to adolescents.

The show is designed to see how the young people respond to being a parent at a time when Britain has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Europe.

But during filming on a housing estate in Norwich it has emerged that a 10-year-old boy went a day without food and a baby had to be removed from the care of one couple as relationships began to fall apart under the glare of the cameras.

The BBC said it went to "extraordinary" lengths to ensure the safety of the children.

But the Norfolk Local Safeguarding Children Board said it had "serious misgivings" about the project and urged the BBC to reconsider.

Dr Caroline Ball, chairman of the board, said: "We did not believe it was in the best interests of babies, children and young people to be placed in stressful and risky situations, under the spotlight of cameras, in the interests of factual entertainment."

The board asked the BBC for permission to go on set to monitor the safety of the children, but the request was refused.

A BBC spokeswoman said : "The safety of children is of paramount importance to everyone involved with the production. Hence, extraordinary steps were taken, including psychological screening, criminal records checks, the use of 24/7 CCTV cameras, and employing only trained childcare professionals and registered child minders to monitor and safeguard the wellbeing of the children."

Posted: 04 January 2007 at 9:33am | IP Logged

most odd

wonder how much the dufus got paid that made that 'entertainment' up?

dreadful

its bad enough that some adults have children, nevermind lending them to youngsters!

the parents must be thick or were paid wads or dont care about their child! or all 3

Posted: 04 January 2007 at 10:04am | IP Logged

This is ridiculous, I haven't even heard of the program, and wont be watching either.

Who in their right mind would let a teenager 'borrow' their child for an TV experiment and then, let it be shown on TV how badly they were treated (if they were)

Posted: 04 January 2007 at 10:08am | IP Logged

 that is terrible, what responsable parents would let your kids go to a teenager,

and those camera people should of stopped it straight away.

Posted: 04 January 2007 at 2:28pm | IP Logged

thats terrible.  I cant believe that parents would lend their children like that.  Thats terribel.

They should those robo dolls like the others have said.  Those poor kids x

Posted: 14 January 2007 at 8:05pm | IP Logged

Ok, has anybody been watching this?  http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/programmes/baby_borrowers/inde x.shtml

Theres 5 couples;

"Posh rockers"  Alex and Sam
"Posh trendys"  Ryan and Lauren
"Culture clash"  Fiznik (Kosovo) and Ava (Iranian)
"Small town peeps"  Carl and Kayleigh
"London rap couple"  Kallai and Raeisa

I've been watching this and so has David and tbh we're hooked.  One couple had their baby taken off them as the guy, Fiznik, wasn't used to sharing Ava and acted like a baby himself.

The boys have really shone especially Alex the rocker....He literally went one weekend with about 4 hours sleep and his silly gf hardly lifted a finger.

The get a baby one weekend then a toddler one weekend then an adolecent or two, and then an eldery person.

It's summing it all up just now on BBC THREE.