To my surprise, unpleasant, of course, I just discovered that Supernanny is still on television. I forced myself to watch one of the programs, in spite of my disgust towards the programs that show the suffering of the children for the entertainment of the audience no matter how much they have supposed pedagogical intentions. In the end, more of the same, another behaviorist who encourages emotional abandonment, another Estivill disguised as a scientist.
Supernanny's methods and the same format of the program seems very harmful to children. It is based on a premise: children who misbehave need to know the authority and respect the rules imposed by their parents. Those children who misbehave are guilty of their behavior and criticisms of parents are minimal, when in reality, they are the real culprits of the undeniable problems in the behavior of the children.
The program is based on accuse children of misbehaving, disobey and be rude. They are the problem. And at best, their parents are guilty of not knowing how to impose their rules with authority. That's what they do Supernanny's methods.
A true psychologist, focused on helping those children and their families, should, without a doubt, look for the cause that motivates the children's behavior: screams, tantrums, challenging and disrespectful attitude, and look for it precisely in the lack of empathy and real attention to the emotional needs of children shown by parents, instead of trying to dominate them by the fear of punishment and deprivation of love.
The formula to control the behavior of children is authoritarianism, denial of affection and abandoning the child struggling only with their negative emotions until they achieve, through pure despair, dominate and make them submissive. It happened to me this summer, in a museum, a little girl of two or three years lying on the floor screaming and crying and her mother, it must be that she adept at Supernanny's methods and surely believing they were adequate, ignoring her as she writhed on the floor. Ignoring her, without looking at her, cold as an iceberg, refusing to take her in her arms and showing herself immune to her obvious despair. Same as it appears week after week in the program.
What is offered to parents is a way of dominate your children quickly, simple, ignoring the basic emotional problems, getting them to be submissive and obedient through punishment, reward and coldness. And a lady, with scientific but fake airs, who gives them an accelerated training in the behavior of children, trying, in addition, to appear to be respectful to them and benefit them from something.
Special mention should be given to showing children suffering in an entertainment television program, something that without a doubt should not be allowed.
Finally, I think The help these families need is not that of a television program that encourages more detached behaviorism, but a good therapist for those parents who demonstrate, program after program, serious problems that their children pay and reflect. But they do not need a program that shows something terrible: that emotional abuse is still considered a valid way to tame children just as they tamed adults who reproduce the same behaviors they suffered.
Children's tantrums are called blackmail. The cause for which they are in that emotional situation, their fear, despair, suffering or jealousy is ignored. What is sought is that they obey. Nothing else. Positive reinforcement is used: kissing them and telling them that we love them if they obey. They are punished by ignoring them if they cry. They are rewarded with food if they obey. Come on, as if they were dogs and not people, although not, dogs are treated better by dogs than Supernanny by children. For all these reasons I don't like Supernanny's methods or his program.
