Baby Borrowers “Like Leaving Kids with Babysitter”?!
Admittedly, we missed last night’s two-hour episode of The Baby Borrowers, so we’ve got some catching up to do. But that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been following some of the blogs that have been popping up, both criticizing and lauding the show. In fact, we came across one particular blog that had a comment that we couldn’t help but share.
Very briefly… in case you don’t know the show, it follows five teenage couples (age 18-20) as they try to “raise” children. The children are volunteered by their parents, who get to watch the teens remotely from a few houses down from where the teens live. It’s been hailed as a social experiment, but it’s caused a lot of controversy, as you can imagine.
Okay, so, on Strollerderby, one blogger expresses his disgust over the parents who let their babies and toddlers appear on the show, in the (apparently) incapable hands of teenagers. The term he used was “morons.” And then the comments on his post veered away from that into this:
I am not the slightest bit interested in this show, but I don’t see how this is much different from leaving a baby/toddler with a teenage babysitter who is totally alone without any supervision at all. How many parents all over the US do that on a consistent basis? All they all morons? Their kids don’t even get to have camera crews, producers, and “shadow nannies.”
Now, we don’t have any sitters under the age of 17 on Sittercity, but the show’s teens aren’t under the age of 18 either. (Maybe we shouldn’t even call them “teens.”) Plus, we know that many of you certainly started sitting before that age anyway. The above comment makes quite the blanket assumption that all teenage sitters are as irresponsible as the teens on the show, which, if you’ve seen it, you might not agree with.
A few other commenters didn’t quite agree either:
I still don’t get why older teens are presumed to be incapable of taking care of babies, although of course I haven’t seen the show so I don’t know if there was something especially immature about the teens they selected.
=== I was also babysitting at 15, but I know I would have handled myself and the babies better than these teens. I really think the producers went out of their way to find teens with the worst attitudes and least experience.
Have you seen the show? What do you think?
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:57 am
I watched ALL two hours of the show last night. I was appalled by the lack of knowledge these “teens” had about caring for babies. One teen mother did not feed a baby all day because he was too fussy during her feeding attempts. However, I was surprised by how well the teen fathers did. A lot of them took to the experiment very well.
I think it will be interesting to see how this show develops. I’m not interested in the episodes featuring tween children and teenage children. I think the teenagers caring for the elderly will be a hoot!
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
I watched the show as a teenager of 19 who would like kids early but I did have a problem with the girls on the show. They didnt want to work they didnt want to do anything remotely related to the kids which I find absoutely ridiculous if you want a baby at an early age you should know that you have to take care of the kids at all time and respect them. The teen fathers were the ones that did most of the work and I give them credit for that because I know my boyfriend would cry more than the babies themselves. I will continue to watch only because I think its funny that this teenagers want to be mothers but cant even take care of themselves.
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:03 pm
I have not seen this show either, but I find it ridiculous that from watching a few teens on a TV show that parents would all of a sudden stereo-type all teens to be that way. I have been babysitting my little brother since I was 12 and at age 16 I started babysitting other peoples children. I take that responsibility with a high maturity level because I understand that caring for other peoples children is scary for most parents. I know for a fact that many other teens my age realize how scary it is for parents to leave their babies, or kids with strangers or teenagers.
July 4th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
I think the most appalling thing for me about the show was not necessarily the lack of knowledge these “teens” had about caring for babies because I kind of expected them to not know very much. The shocking aspect was for me were the two girls that reacted poorly to parents’ comments. They flipped out because the true mother was concerned about the care their child was receiving. There were a few people on the show that did a good job caring for the child that was in their care. And I too agree that the boys on the show did a remarkably good job, at least compared to what was socially expected of them.
July 6th, 2008 at 12:58 am
This show was fascinating! First of all, I applaud the parents for so generously handing over their children to the teens. I’m sure they were getting paid lots of money for it, but even still, I cannot imagine how hard it was to not see your child for several days. I think they were able to teach those teenagers a huge lesson.
However, I do not think that this show is at all comprable to leaving a child with a babysitter. First of all, babysitting does not usually go on for three days straight. These teens were left for something like 72 hours straight with children they’d never worked with before. I also think the show was designed to provide a kind of warning to young teenage couples about the difficulty of child-rearing and, in a way, these kids were set-up to make a point. Most of them were very immature (except for the one girl from Georgia), but I think that probably came down to the casting directors finding people that would create good drama. Reality TV is usually anything but real.
I thought it was an interesting experiment and a great message to send young people who think they are ready for marriage, a house in the suburbs and 2.5 kids.
July 6th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I have seen the show, & unfortunately, a lot of teenagers who want to be married with babies right away are immature. I thought the boys did a better job & the one girl did well. I was a teen babysitter at 14. I was not immature in my duties, neglecting the children. I took better care of those 3 kids (8, 3, newborn) then the parents, but I think, that may be the exception. A lot of girls that I went to school with also babysat, and most of them were like these immature teens on the show. None of it surprised me & it was pretty true to form for a lot of teens, not all. These many years later, I still babysit/nanny. I have a degree & made it my career. I do it more for the love of the children than any other reason! I think these teens will be doing a lot of growing up on the show & maybe re-focus their energies on what’s important right now, like college & finding out who they really are. Marriage & kids will come soon enough, hopefully when they are more ready.
July 7th, 2008 at 10:02 am
I think the show is horrible! I agree with one of the above post the the producers must have gone out of their way to find teenagers that have the least experience. I understand how difficult raising a child can, but these teenagers have absolutly no clue what they are doing! All teenagers shouldn’t have this view put around them like we all act like that around children. Many teenagers are very capable of taking very good care of children of all ages, especially for the forty eight or seventy two hours these teens had to deal with.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
I saw the end of the show. I guess about an hour. I was suprised that they didn’t know how to take care of a baby at all. WHat is so hard about changing a diaper? Yes it is gross, but that’s life. I was babysitting at 11 for my little sister and by 12 I was babysitting for other people. Not for long stretches (maybe 2 or 3 hrs) but by 14/15 i was babysitting longer nights. Mostly I took care of school age kids, but sometimes I would sit a toddler or an infant. Another thing I found to be weird was that these teenagers of 18 and 19 never had jobs before? How spoiled are they? I started babysitting and had a paper route at 12, worked odd jobs as well like an occasional lawn mower job or something like that. At 15, i started working at fast food, restaurants, stores etc. THis was all very part time as I was in school. I kept normal average grades in high school. Not because I worked, but because I did not like it. I did the minimal and still made honor roll many semesters. High school was EASY back in the 80s! WHen I graduated high school 6 months early, at age 17, I started to work (almost) full time (about 30-35 hrs per week). Then I started going to college around age 19 and worked P/T. ANd I babysat throughout all of this as well. My sister worked as well. As did all my friends. We did not HAVE to work. My family could afford to buy us many things. But we wanted to work..for our own money and our own accomplishments. I think they cast some very spoiled, lazy teenagers.
July 8th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
I am 17, and a baby sitter. I have been baby sitting children since I was about 12 1/2, and even then I had way more common sense than the teens on baby borrowers have. I would have never, and still dont treat the children I baby sit for like that. You have to treat the children wtih respect, and even though the parents are not present, you should treat the children like the parents are always watching. I dont understand how these teens have no idea how to take care of children, and it gives of bad vibes. Parents watch this and think that this is how it is with everyone, and it is not.
July 10th, 2008 at 1:08 am
I’m a grown adult with a family of my own, but I look back on my teenage years and I am still upset that I was never given the benefit of the doubt. This show is a great lesson for those involved, but it paints a funny picture of American young adults. I was never perfect, and no one is, but my mother acted as though I was such a terrible teen. Knowing how teens like this are acting lets me know that I was not like this, and she didn’t have it so bad.
It’s so strange to me to think that I was married at 19. I think 18-20 is such an akward age- and looking back, although I love my husband, I would have waited to be married. These people should too.
July 10th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I agree with most all of these posts!! It’s ridiculous who the teens on this show haven’t the slightest clue as to how to take care of a baby!! And those girls that couldn’t handle the parents comments, were so irritating!! That girl from Houston who wouldn’t feed the baby was so annoying! It’s ridiculous that she couldn’t even take the criticism from the baby’s mother!! I mean, come on now!! If you don’t know what you’re doing and especially if you’re not taking care of the baby correctly, you should expect the parents to intervene!
Other than that, I think this show has a good concept because it truly does give these teens a good perspective and reality dose on what it really does require to take care of kids! And once they realize how hard it is, then maybe they’ll think twice about wanting to start a family of their own at such a young age!
I do agree that not all teens are bad at taking care of kids like the ones on this show are, but I do think that this is a good expirement for these teen couples to experience.
July 16th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
My best friends son was on this show!!!
July 26th, 2008 at 8:15 pm
I agree with what’s been said. They cast people that they knew would have difficulties and cause drama. I haven’t watched the show, but that’s how they do these things. 18-20-year-old caregivers are often very responsible and capable. I was babysitting when I was 12, though, granted I eased into it and had a wonderful mother who taught me a lot early on as I learned to help her with my three younger siblings. I think that some young mothers may be very capable, but yes, many of them are not ready for that responsibility. That is very different from hiring a teen babysitter, who will be caring for your children for probably only a few hours, rather than the 72 hours in this case. 18+ year old caregivers who are looking to be nannys/babysitters however, I think, are probably quite capable and experienced.
August 7th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
If you think about most of the teenagers that want to have a baby and actually get pregnant, they are not only immature like the ones on the show, but they came from broken homes. These kids on the show were not half as bad as some of the teens today. Most teen girls who want a baby want that unconditional love. They are not thinking about having to change diapers or waking up in the middle of the night, they are only thinking about the love they think they are going to get from that baby. Give these kids a break, how many teens would actually go into an experiment like this and finish it instead of quitting half way through. I think everyone should get off of their high horses. I see teenagers who are wearing their pants around their knees, who have no respect for anyone and if their children with strangers just so they could go to a party. These kids were not the best kids but all of these kids are in college which says a lot in itself, and all but one finished the “job” they set out to do which is more than what a lot of adults can say.
August 8th, 2008 at 6:19 pm
I’ve followed the show and was appalled, not at the basis of the show, but that some of the teens were so overconfident in their childcare skills. I started sitting solo at 13 and it took a while before i was comfortable alone with babies. I recognize the challenges, and appreciate that I can hand the child off to the parents at the end of the day.
August 11th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
I think those of us who did start babysitting at a young age know better than to want children just out of high school and differ from the “teens” on the show in that regard.
September 11th, 2008 at 11:19 am
Brown-Eyes101
I have never seen the show but i know that the ‘teens’ chosen to do the show are probably the most incapable people they could have chosen. I was babysitting at age 12 and i did a better job than they did and i was babysitting newborns.