Cutting Edge - Thursday 11th March

[sherry_d]

TV Snob me thinks

Never right to judge what other people like to watch. Infact I really dont think we should have room in this world for judgemental people. They should go and live in the antarctica (infact mars is better) where they dont see other people and live their perfect snob lives.

I am watching it and its on recorder

[T.i.p.s.y]

There are many reasons why people choose to take part in documentaries but the true reasons are never shown, or often out of pure naivety they really do not see the harm at the time. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. Thankfully these programmes are churned out on a frequent basis so there is little impact on the children or families involved. For the children who are not successful with the Harrow test I am sure doors have opened because they have been on the documentary.

Inde schools can never win. If they are not shown on TV then they are closed and out of touch with the real world and if they are shown on docs then they are being ruthless and exploiting the children.

And those that choose to watch it are only interested in the education process - that in itself is not crass. It becomes a problem if the viewer is too simple to realise that the doc may not be wholly accurate.

[mike1880]

Is that a tinge of regret?

[weepiglet]

Car crash TV - what possible pupose does it fulfil other than allowing tpeople to gawp at thiose poor boys? parents should be asahmed of themselves for putting the kids thru it, and pretty sad that people are setting the recorder to avoid missing it...

What other purpose? Well mainly it'll be fascinating to any of us who have an interest in how this scholarship works, and the sorts of children able to obtain one. It'll also be a bit of a thrill (for me, and lots of others too, I'm sure) to see a couple of children and their families delighted at being presented with a brilliant, life-changing opportunity they wouldn't have been able to afford.

I have to say that it had never occurred to me in the past to consider myself "sad" for being interested in education documentaries, but hey... everyone's a critic, etc *g* Good job I didn't also confess my addiction to the Cookery Channel. Oh, wait...

[T.i.p.s.y]

Is that a tinge of regret?

No regrets. If anything, the more experiences one has the less judgemental and open minded one tends to be. So hindsight may show us that the things we have done were either not necessary or potentially not in ones best interests but it does help develop who we are. I may not be where I am today if it wasn't for some of the things I have done and with further hindsight I'll discover if these things have been beneficial or detrimental.

But in my very limited experience it is those with the least experience that judge the most.

[mike1880]

Absolutely, I always find not knowing what I'm talking about makes it much easier to have opinions .

I hope you didn't think I was judging, anyway. I think there's something very fundamental about the human mind that's drawn to appearing in (and watching) this sort of reality documentary. I'm pretty sure I'd find it hard to resist if it was suggested, but luckily I think Mrs 1880 would stuff wax in my ears and tie me to the mast.

Mike

[T.i.p.s.y]

Did you miss out the ly and flawed in sentence 3?

There are so many reasons why people choose to do docs. Some actively seek to do them or answer adverts , others are found and approached , and then there are incentives. Reasons may include financial, fame or because one naively thinks it might help with ones own unique family issues. And up until 3 years ago documentaries were just that - factual - but now they are sensational and freak-like and edited in such dubious ways.

[mike1880]

Did you miss out the ly and flawed in sentence 3?

No, it's like moths and candles or kittens and string.

I don't think things were that much different a few years ago. There are still good documentaries (I hope so anyway, I'm looking forward to "Catchment" this year and I hope I'm not going to be disappointed ), but "factual" programmes have always been edited to make "good TV", there's nothing new about that. (I remember some years ago watching a programme where a structural engineer had been persuaded in the interests of "good TV" to say that he didn't know whether a reconstruction of an arched bridge was going to be under tension or compression. Serve him right if he never worked again IMHO.)

Mike

[Rob Clark]

If anything, the more experiences one has the less judgemental and open minded one tends to be.

So true, Tipsy. Knowledge is power and all that.

The thing to bear in mind is that the media always has its own agenda (and I speak as someone who works in it ) and it pays to be aware of that since programmes will be edited in such a way as to reflect the desired agenda.

My advice to anyone tempted to appear in a documentary would be to try and find out as much as possible about the intention behind the programme and, where possible, the programme-makers as this will give you the best steer as to what agenda they are trying to push.

[Sassie'sDad]

Going to force myself to watch just so I know which side of this debate I'm on.

Even more potentially interesting is "My New Best Friend" BBC Four, Tuesday 16 01:25 - 02:24, a documentary about the nature of friendship among children: four 11-year-old girls leave the familiarity of their prep schools to join Cheltenham Ladies' College.

My experience with two girls has been that their social/friendship skills (and those of their peers) are more difficult by far than anything to do with academic study. As a parent I have more difficulty with what to do about this, mobile phones and internet ie FB access than any other issues. Aprops that, does anyone else think FB should require Administrator privileges in order to change settings on FB accounts of minors? My idea is that no account should be authorised without parental aproval and allowing this level of account protection. After all most bright kids will simply change privacy settings to suit themselves. I have made a plea to our indy about bringing home to children the potential dangers of FB. They have agreed to make it a subject covered in both PHSE and IT lessons as a priority. - Sorry to hijack the topic