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Children who feature on popular television show Supernanny are being made to cry in an attempt to boost ratings, it has been claimed.
Britain's Daily Telegraph reported that producers of the show - which sees "Supernanny" Jo Frost teaching parents how to cope with unruly kids - were concerned about some of the tactics being employed while filming.
Roger Graef, an award-winning film maker and founding member of the Channel 4 board (the station which screens the programme in the UK), told an audience at the London School of Economics that some children were driven to tears by producers under pressure to win ratings.
"In some reality programmes I have had producers come to me and say: 'I can't do this any more. I have been told to change the ending to conform to the script'," he said during a debate entitled TV On Trial.
"They were told to force children to cry on Supernanny. They were told to change things on Wife Swap and so on," Graef said.
"If what you are producing is entertainment and you are using real people to do it then, the truth is, there is a long tradition of illusions. That is the reality behind it."
Channel 4 refuted Graef's claims, saying there was "absolutely no evidence" to support them.
"Channel 4 takes these matters very seriously and have been assured by production company Ricochet that this has not and would not happen on Supernanny," a spokesperson was reported as saying.
It is not the first time Supernanny has been criticised. Some parenting groups have registered opposition to Frost's tactics, which include placing misbehaving children on the "naughty step" until they calm down.
- NZ HERALD STAFF
