It premered last night and, though I did not watch it, I do have a small issue with it.
The program is described as:
NBC's upcoming reality series "The Baby Borrowers" is an intriguing new social experiment based on the hit British program that asks five diverse teenage couples -- ages 18-20 -- to fast-track to adulthood by setting up a home, getting a job and becoming caring parents first to babies, toddlers, pre-teens and their pets, teenagers and senior citizens -- all over the course of three weeks.
As the social experiment begins, the five young volunteer couples are asked to literally grow up overnight when they are each given a home in a quiet cul-de-sac outside Boise, Idaho and attend pre-natal classes as each "mother" wears a simulated "empathy" belly to prepare them for the arrival of their "baby."
When a real baby (all aged six-11 months old) appears at their door -- courtesy of five pairs of real volunteer parents (some of whom were teen parents themselves) who entrust their infants to one of the couples -- the nervous, fumbling teens are in for three long, arduous days that make chilling out a distant memory. They must stick to rigid routines, handle the feeding chores, diaper duty and crying jags that might be shared by
baby and teens -- all the while under 24-hour supervision by nannies and the real parents who are stationed next door, watching via monitor, and able to step in at any time. Plus, one teen from each of the couples must start a job, ranging from working in a local vet's office to a lumberyard, leaving the other alone as caregiver for the day.
So that is the gist of the new show and I just have one question:
Who among us would volunteer our babies for this pressing "social experiment"?
Of course, the show's description does well to emphasize the fact that the volunteer parents will be located close by, and able to observe through a constant monitor; but why?
Am I crazy? Is there anyone who would offer up their offspring?
1 comment:
You are not crazy... I had the same exact first thought when reading about this show. Forget the teen stars of the show, I want to know more about the parents that would subject their babies to this in the name of entertainment! I couldn't bring myself to watch the show even to find that out, though.
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