Excuse me miss, can I borrow your baby?

The British have done it again. Once more an idea that should have been killed off by the claimed sophistication of the people of the U.K. is been prepared to be brought to our shores. The concept of "Baby Borrowers" is that teenage couples are put on a reality show where they have to learn how to care for children as though they were parents. They go through a rapid succession of age ground from infant to toddler to preteen to young teenager to of all things a senior citizen. After success on BBC3, NBC is working on an American version.

"We really want the young people in the series and indeed everyone who watches to appreciate that parenting is one of the hardest and most important tasks you'll ever undertake," he said. "We also want people to think carefully about when they want to have children and with whom they want to have children."

The theory seems to be similar to that of pairing teens together in their High Schools and having them jointly care for an egg or sack of flour. This time however actual children are involved and ratings are to be had. Though it might well be argued that people would watch and that the teenagers would learn about parenting, I have to ask "What's in it for the children?" Of what benefit is this project to the development of the infants and toddlers involved. Granted they are with these teens under close supervision for only a few days, but even with limited risk, I cannot see the benefit to the children themselves and thus cannot find a way to justify such a project. Maybe I am too much on the cautious side, but this does not strike me as the kind of project that a university's ethics committee would allow for a social science study making the airing of it on TV far less comfortable.