Is America Ready for The Baby Borrowers?
From Juno to Jamie Lynn Spears to the seventeen high school girls who made a pregnancy pact, teen pregnancy is all over the headlines.
So, how do you feel about the new NBC show The Baby Borrowers, in which five teenage couples have to set up a home, get jobs, and become parents first to babies, then toddlers, pre-teens and their pets, teens and lastly, senior citizens.
Remember in high school when students had to carry an egg around for a week and try not to break it, as if the eggs were babies? Well The Baby Borrowers is the modern day version of that.
At first I thought the show was a terrible idea as it might advocate teen pregnancy, which is the last thing we need in our society. However, the first episode kept my eyes glued to the screen. If this show teaches kids how difficult parenthood is, then it will be a success.
The teens must care for each child for three days, dealing with everything from diaper duty to potty training to outrageous teens to health issues.
It's obvious from the get go that some of these teens should not be getting pregnant any time soon. One teen "mom" even refuses to wear a baby belly simulator because it made her feel fat and ugly. There are one or two couples who seem responsible, but viewers' opinions might change quickly as we see them try to parent.
While three days is nowhere near reality, and more like an overnight babysitting gig, for these teens it might just be enough to keep them from having babies.
The Baby Borrowers premieres on NBC tonight at 9 p.m.
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Premiere episoide is tonight, 9pm on NBC. Make sure you watch. Especially if you're a teen and think having a kid sounds like a giggle fest.
I will be watching with my Mom. I'm 18 and am in no way ready for a baby. I wanna life. Hope this makes some other teens realize that.
I can't wait. I wanna see how these teens do. I had my son at 17 and he is 4 now. It has been incredibly hard. I wouldn't give him up for the world, but I know there has been alot that I missed out on.
Man, I think bush should give up the wars on drugs, terror and freedom and just declare a war on teen pregnancy.
this show seems like a really good idea, i know for a fact that there are so many teens that think they are ready to have a baby but they have know idea. like my friend who is do next month (shes 16) , i know her and i know she would rather be out parying. i hope this show will teach us not to make mistakes that have more than just your own life in parel.
Hey Blip Blip how about the teens declare war by practicing good judgement. Use condoms!!! For every teen pregnancy there will be at least one teen with HIV.
Educating about contraceptives, not just the hardship of pregnancy, is the way to go.
I watched Baby Borrowers tonight and loved it. I can't wait until next Wednesday!
Loved the fact that they used RealCare Babies and the Pregnancy Profile Vest on the show. Both products are from Realityworks (www.realityworks.com) and they allow people to experience pregnancy and taking care of an infant without actually having to use a real baby. Every community and middle and high school should use these things. There's nothing like firsthand experience to debunk the romantic notions of being pregnant and having a baby. IT'S HARD and not for people under 25!
I have not been able to get the answers to any of these questions. If anybody has any of this information, would you please post it here?
First, how many waking hours a day did the parents spend with their children?
Second, in the preparation for the separation, was the possibility of attachment disruption discussed with the parents? Were any specific policies in place to prevent attachment disruption?
Third, does anybody really believe that leaving your child with strangers in a strange place, and popping in when things get bad is a good idea?
Fourth, has any consideration been given to the possibility that airing the video of this experience on national TV will aggravate the impact on those children, make it a continued reality in their lives long after the initial experience is over?
And last, people keep saying that these children will not suffer long term ill-effects. And the supposed target audience is sexually active teenagers. So doesn't that add up to teaching teenagers that it is OK to needlessly put your child in some similar situation in which the baby is enduring long term extreme distress?
I may watch the show if I remember to tune in but as a 17 year old expecting mom three days just doesn't seem like it'll make a difference maybe for teens that are TTC but for the accidential ones I don't see it.And what parents let their babies go with these strangers...
Jencita- not for people under 25?!?! since when is parenthood not for people under 25? My husband and I had our first child at 20 and now that she's two are expecting our second. Parenting is hard, but it's also been a wonderful blessing and in no way were we unprepared or unrealistic about having her simply because we were under 25. She was planned in almost everyway down to her ever growing college fund. As this one is. And guess what, we are still under 25 and more than capable both financially and emotionally. Be careful with blanket statements.
Let's just watch the babies and think about what it might be like to be them! How would it feel to be left in a strange place with strange people who are being put in a stressful situation. Really can everyone just stop and think about this from the baby or toddlers viewpoint. How confusing, how sad, it shows, that's why they are crying. Babies have feelings and while they may not have words to express their memories of this time they will have a memory of the feeling of being left- they are not just objects for teaching people that parenting is hard.
There is not hard evidence that says that 3 days will affect these children for life- it could- depending on what happens, but it does increase the stress hormone cortisol in their brain which is detrimental to healthy brain development. I don't think the parents that did this are bad, but I do think they have used bad judgment and I can't for the life of me think of why anyone would subject their child to this kind of experience. At its basic core it is unhealthy and it has the potential of being very damaging!