RTÉ Big Big Bazaar
With the joys of having a kid come the joys of getting up early at weekends and watching kids programmes on TV. I usually tune to TV5 to give Sophie a bit more French than during the week (if she grows up with a strong and a lively Québécois accent, don’t look any further!), but occasionally, I switch back to RTÉ. And at the weekend, I came across this programme called the Big Big Bazaar. Great idea and all: you get 2 teams of kids (something between 8 and 11) to collect stuff from local households to raise money for a local cause (a GAA club, a school band, etc.). It is a brilliant idea, and it’s great to see the kids visiting grandmothers to get the recipe of scones, or sorting through pile of junk for selling the items. Then, for 2 hours, the 2 teams try to sell a max of things.
Great idea, until it came to the end. The boys won, they raised something like 1,200+, and unfortunately, the girls only raised a bit more than 1,100€. So the girls lost. They are all very very disappointed, they worked so hard, and fell about a 100€ short… Then, the presenter swiftly says: “According to the rules of the Big Big Bazaar, the girls therefore have to give half of their money to the boys. Too bad…”
Whaaaaat? How mean is that?? So instead of raising (say) 1,100€, they now raise 550€, and give the rest to the boys. I find this just wrong. Ok, we have to teach our kids they can’t always win, but what sort of lesson are we trying to teach them here: if you lose, you’ll end up giving half your earnings to the winner?? Maybe that’s just me, but that doesn’t feel right to take money away from kids who’ve worked hard to get that money.
