TVE has announced a new season of ‘Supernanny’, a show that has already triumphed over Cuatro, declaring that it will accompany “families facing the challenges of parenthood”. In this film, psychologist Rocío Ramos-Paúl will travel around Spain to find families with troubled children and give them tips on how to educate them. A format that has been internationally successful for two decades, but has been met with several controversies from the moment it was announced on TVE, criticism of a nature from which TVE has not been entirely immune.

The origins of ‘Super Nanny’. Born in England in 2004, the program aired on Channel 4 for four years and featured advice from professional nanny Jo Frost, who suggested teaching methods other than punishment and beatings. Its success spawned many international versions; this version led to Rocío Ramos-Paúl starring in eight seasons between 2006 and 2014, garnering significant viewership figures sometimes exceeding 12%. To compare in his best moments.

Historical debates. The program was not always positively received. For example, already in the British version, naughty step (or “Thinking Corner” as we know it here) has been widely criticized. In this system, children who misbehave are given a warning, but if they continue, they must wait one minute for each age and sit on the steps. They have to apologize later. More than 2,000 people signed a petition in the French edition condemning the methods used by supernanny Sylvie Jenaly. It was this debate that focused on overexposure of children.

Abused children. The complaint in France came from Bernadette Gautier, a therapist from the parent support association, who accused the program of “educational violence” and “violating children’s rights by showing them in humiliating situations.” Gautier accused Jenaly of “humiliating” some children and gave this example: “In a recent episode, a mother was seen brushing her 11-year-old son’s teeth. Imagine the sarcastic reactions of his friends at school.” These are protests that are currently being repeated in Spain.

Things change. When Cuatro launched ‘Super Nanny’ in 2006, regulations regarding the protection of minors in audiovisuals were different. Currently, these laws are stricter and there are already associations defending children’s rights that warn of possible violations of the rights of minors featured in ‘Super Nanny’, as the association ‘The Violet Seed’ did in this manifesto or youtuber specializing in over-exposure of minors Medianoche. In fact, there is a notable example: in Portugal, in January 2018, it took only a week for the program to be canceled following an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, which found that the channel broadcasting the program had to distort children’s faces and voices. airing, something the network does not agree to.

Conflict history. RTVE is not entirely immune to such controversies: ‘MasterChef Junior’ has often been criticized by child psychologists for the abusive competitiveness depicted on the programme. For example, in the third season, a girl burned herself while cooking and continued testing. And there was constant talk about how the program placed children, sometimes very young, in tense situations designed for an adult to handle. TVE has repeatedly defended itself against the accusations, but the premiere of ‘Supernanny’ has once again placed public television in the eye of the hurricane.

Title: RTVE

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