A Korean TV show caused controversy when asking children to choose between rich and poor parents
The answers given by the kids on a TV show sparked fierce controversy among netizens.
Famous for producing reality TV shows, a Korean production crew used to be involved in serious controversies when being accused of using children to gain the viewers’ attention. Typically, JTBC’s program So What About My Age for children once made the audience angry when there was a question asking the kids to choose between rich and poor parents.
Specifically, the show’s host asked the children participating in the show: “If you guys had to choose, would you choose to live with poor parents but they always spend time with you and care about you, or rich parents who are always busy with work?”. The answers of the majority of young participants surprised the viewers. A child chose to live with rich parents and explained, “I don’t want to live in a house as small as a nostril”, while another said, “If my parents were rich, I would have good childhood memories. If my family were poor, no matter how much my parents cared, I would not be able to have nice memories.”
“You’re not going to beg for money to support your children, are you? You have to earn a living to support your family, right?” – another kid questioned. The last kid also wanted to live in a home with a decent financial condition: “Although rich parents are busy and unable to take good care of their child, at least the child will have many good opportunities in studying.”
Asking a sensitive question in a children’s TV show made the show immediately the focus of public criticism. Most of the comments expressed surprise and concern, one account left a comment: “I feel that if I had children, I would be scolded in the face for being poor”, “Children these days are so scary”, “Are they really talking on their own, without a script? This is so sad”, “The house is as small as a nose? Is that how they are taught to speak?”…
In addition, many people also defended the program, saying that the children only spoke the truth because raising a child was not easy: “It is said that it costs nearly 300 million won to raise a child. Let’s raise them to be more successful than their parents and they will come back to pay you.”
Source: K14
