David Coleman Families in the wild

cordub

I have been watching child phycologist David Colemans tv programme" Families in the wild" and am wondering will this programme do more harm than good to the families that take part in it??? I presume that when the kids go back to school after the programme has been aired there must be some reaction to it !!! It must have some negative reactions esp for the kids!!! Am just back from a talk by David about teens and have to say I thought he was great and talked great sense I just wonder about the kids featured in his tv programmes and should their parents have allowed them to take part in these shows considering they already have massive issues to deal with already. After watching the programme I do reckon that the Parents have a lot to answer for !!! other reactions please???

psych_chick

Im a huge fan of David Coleman & watch all his shows. I like this one too - you're right parents do have alot to answer for. Personally i find the family with the 2 girls the most disturbing, the mom has huge control issues...not a nice environment for kids, especially with a breakup thrown in for good measure!!!

Im not sure about the negative impact issue you talk about as im sure this whole programme/series got the go ahead from an ethics board? I see your concern though.

patsman07

I have to say I don't like him. He is on Newstalk's Moncreiff show once a week. I heard him once responding to a text where a parent had stated that her son was a weak reader but usually enjoyed reading at home. Lately however he was refusing to read. David's response was to tell the mother to talk to the teacher and ask the teacher to get the child to do something else instead of reading aloud in class, like reciting some poetry. His reasoning was that reading aloud might be too stressful for this womans son. I think this is really an ill conceived piece of advice, how is a poor reader going to improve if they are allowed to stop reading in school?

I may be old fashioned but I think his approach is a bit airy fairy. Sometimes kids need a good telling off and a wee slap. Never done me any harm!

Waking-Dreams

patsman07 wrote: »

...how is a poor reader going to improve if they are allowed to stop reading in school?

Reading ALOUD in school. Not a cessation of reading altogether.

It can be difficult for some kids to read aloud to others in their class because of self-consciousness, fear of looking foolish if they make mistakes or not being able pronounce certain words, etc. It can undermine one’s confidence in their abilities.

By getting more reading practise done in non-stressful situations, I would imagine it will give the kid a bit more confidence in himself where he can continue to develop his skills and in time, feel comfortable reading aloud in front of others.

dambarude

Reading aloud or 'round robin' reading is actively discouraged nowadays. Reading one on one with the teacher, or in small groups, or indeed silent reading works, without the anxiety caused by 28 other people listening to you.

I didn't see the programme, but I'm not so sure about the poetry suggestion though...

psycjay

"I may be old fashioned but I think his approach is a bit airy fairy. Sometimes kids need a good telling off and a wee slap. Never done me any harm!"

Yes children need to be told off from time to time but this is not the answer for everything, especially when children are anxious about something. I don't know the details of this case, but if the child had recently stopped reading aloud it is very likely anxiety related, perhaps they made a mistake and everybody laughed and now they want to avoid that happening again.

What David Coleman was suggesting was to get the child to do an alternative task, which may be easier, but will serve to increase the child's confidence. It's a well known and highly effective technique.

Telling the child off would probably have the opposite effect and may make the child dislike reading even more.

Oh and it's not airy fairy, its science, it has been studied extensively, that's what psychologists do, we don't just go with what we think will work because one time it worked for us, that's airy fairy.

patsman07

psycjay wrote: »

"I may be old fashioned but I think his approach is a bit airy fairy. Sometimes kids need a good telling off and a wee slap. Never done me any harm!"

Yes children need to be told off from time to time but this is not the answer for everything, especially when children are anxious about something. I don't know the details of this case, but if the child had recently stopped reading aloud it is very likely anxiety related, perhaps they made a mistake and everybody laughed and now they want to avoid that happening again.

What David Coleman was suggesting was to get the child to do an alternative task, which may be easier, but will serve to increase the child's confidence. It's a well known and highly effective technique.

Telling the child off would probably have the opposite effect and may make the child dislike reading even more.

Oh and it's not airy fairy, its science, it has been studied extensively, that's what psychologists do, we don't just go with what we think will work because one time it worked for us, that's airy fairy.

Look, I wasn't suggesting that the child in this case should have been told off. I cited this example because I thought it was bad advice to encourage a weak reader to recite poetry instead of practising reading.

Admittedly im not a psychologist, im ignorant on the subject, although I was aware that it is considered a science. I wonder though, why is there such importance placed on a child's self-confidence?

Of course children should have a good level of self confidence, but to my mind there are more important issues. In certain social circles, I probably have little self belief/confidence and I find many people who are uber-confident very irritating. Maybe im just jealous.

psycjay

Sorry, I was a bit snappy myself in that comment, which is kind of ironic really..

I'm still a bit confused about the child example, are we talking about reading aloud in front of people or simple reading to oneself? I took it that the child did not have an issue with reading, but refused to read in front of people.

The emphasis on self confidence is on preventing low self confidence, which can lead to problems down the line. There is no reason to try and boost a persons confidence beyond a healthy level as this would probably create problems in itself! and yes is annoying.

patsman07

What he said was that the parent should approach the teacher and maybe arrange for the child to recite poetry instead of reading in class.

I suppose its unfair to focus on this one piece of advice. A text was read out on live radio and he has to respond straight away. However I've found myself in disagreement with his advice a number of times, this is just the one example I can recall.

Lcronin2011

I think the show is interesting to watch as i am studying psychology and he has some very interesting incites. However i don't know would this show do much good at actually solving the issues properly? Showing this could cause even more problems for the families than what they started with as people will not only judge the children, but also judge the parents and their parenting styles. It is an interesting programme and i may be wrong but i dont think it actually does much good at solving the families issues.

cordub

Lcronin2011 wrote: »

I think the show is interesting to watch as i am studying psychology and he has some very interesting incites. However i don't know would this show do much good at actually solving the issues properly? Showing this could cause even more problems for the families than what they started with as people will not only judge the children, but also judge the parents and their parenting styles. It is an interesting programme and i may be wrong but i dont think it actually does much good at solving the families issues.

Tahts what I am thinking too , how much good could it do to publicise you childs problems to all . i would imagine it could only lead to more teasing and bullying hense even more pressure on the kids , plus as you say we are all very critical of the parents too hense more pressure on them!!

Lcronin2011

cordub wrote: »

Tahts what I am thinking too , how much good could it do to publicise you childs problems to all . i would imagine it could only lead to more teasing and bullying hense even more pressure on the kids , plus as you say we are all very critical of the parents too hense more pressure on them!!

Ya exactly alot of people will probably look at the parents now and think wow they were crap parents! I'd hate for people to be thinking that about me! And likewise with the children, kids these days are awful for teasing and bullying and as u said i say it would put more pressure on the kids! especially the ones who were opening up more about how the felt!!!

Waking-Dreams

The good of these shows is that they are educational for viewers too. Parents at home watch this kind of thing and might pick up a useful pointer or two (because they are going through the same or similar experience with their kids).

Whether it’s detrimental to the families involved, I’m not so sure. Yes, people might judge their parenting styles but I have a feeling their styles are shared by LOTS of other people out there watching too. As the saying goes: people in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones.

The whole point of the show is to help correct the problem and improve the situation. That other people witness a snapshot of this isn’t always a bad thing.

cordub

Waking-Dreams wrote: »

The good of these shows is that they are educational for viewers too. Parents at home watch this kind of thing and might pick up a useful pointer or two (because they are going through the same or similar experience with their kids).

Whether it’s detrimental to the families involved, I’m not so sure. Yes, people might judge their parenting styles but I have a feeling their styles are shared by LOTS of other people out there watching too. As the saying goes: people in glasshouses shouldn’t throw stones.

The whole point of the show is to help correct the problem and improve the situation. That other people witness a snapshot of this isn’t always a bad thing.

yes I agree . it makes me stopand think when i see them doing similar things to me and your right we as parents all tend to make the same mistakes we just dont like to see it sometimes !!! Its the kids on the programme i feel sorry for though !!say they will be mortified when they see these programmes in years to come I know I would be lol

simon-king

cordub wrote: »

they will be mortified when they see these programmes in years to come I know I would be lol

or hopefully they will be mortified as soon as they watch the recording and observe their negative behaviours