Have you ever watched “The Super Nanny”? If not, don’t even bother. The show is a complete joke. Jo Frost, (a.k.a. The Super Nanny) offers by far some of the worst parenting advice I’ve ever heard in my life. The sad thing is, many naive parents actually believe there is some truth to what she says! There are so many things wrong about the show, I don’t even know where to start. First off, it’s completely unrealistic to believe that someone, who has no prior connection to your family can come to your home for 2 weeks, and miraculously fix everything. Hello People! This is a TV show…not just any TV show…a Reality TV show. So, don’t believe everything you see. Film Editors can do wonders!
The biggest problem I have with The Supernanny is her thoughts on “rewards and punishments”. I think that it’s absurd that she’s teaching parents to praise kids with stickers and reprimand them with “naughty corners”. Anyone who has gone through Montessori training will tell you that Rewards are NOT advocated in classrooms. When a child is rewarded for something that they should be doing, they lack internal motivation. For example, if you give a child a sticker everytime they do a chore, they become conditioned to the chore because of the reward at the end.. When you take away the reward, you will be taking away their motivation. Montessori teaches our children to do things because they want to, not because there’s something attached to it.
Author Angeline Lillard states that “Expecting and recieving rewards and evaulations not only influences interest and motivation, but also influences how well one does at the activity.” She also says that, ” although expected rewards may work to increased particpation in the short run, they serve to demotivate poeple when the rewards are removed.”
To learn more about the disadvantages of “Rewards and Punishments”, I highly recommend Lillard’s book, “Montessori:The Science Behind the Genius”. Chapter 5 goes more into depth on this issue and provides excellent examples and case studies. I was fortunate enough to see her speak live at workshop, and I must say she is AWESOME!
So parents, you might want to think twice about those reward charts.
There’s an article written by Alfie Kohn, entitled “Atrocious Advice from “Supernanny”. He breaks it down so much better than I can. Check it out here.
We’ll discuss how stupid the naughty step is at a later time. For now, take a look at this video.
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