TV • 2005

Honey, We're Killing the Kids

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Honey, We're Killing the Kids is the name of a BBC television series in which parents are shown the consequences of poor parenting. The program shows computer-generated images and technology of what their children may look like as adults if they continue with their present life-style, dietary and exercise habits. The name of this show is a parody of the name from Disney's Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movies and TV series. First, a family with issues relating to their parenting, dietary and exercise habits is introduced. Then, the children are examined by physicians and psychologists, and every aspect of their eating habits and physical activity is analysed by an expert team. Then, the parents are shown what their children may look like by taking present-day photos of them and age-progressing the photos with a computer year by year until age forty. The parents are frequently brought to tears when presented with the likelihood of their children's unhappy future appearance and significantly reduced life expectancy. Some traits are exaggerated for effect. Highly variable traits such as clothes, hairstyles, jewelry, eyeglasses, facial hair, and so forth are added to the computer generated images based on guesses by the show at the social and educational impact current poor parenting may have on the children's future lives. These guesses at highly variable traits are swayed depending on the outcome predicted by the show's child experts based upon the likely life expectancy, state of health and emotional stability of the children. Bad haircuts and glasses may be used for the before version while the after version has the computer generated images smiling and wearing a suit. Another example, in the premier TLC episode, an eight-year-old boy was given a mullet, an earring, nerdy-looking eyeglasses, and a soul patch at age fifteen. In another episode, an eight-year-old girl was given a bad case of acne as she went through her teenage years. Rosacea, obesity, tooth decay, and hair loss also seem to be common ailments added to the age-progression. These guesses at personal traits are present in all episodes to dramatise the harmful physical, emotional effects of a poor diet and poor parenting, and the major impact the show's experts say these are likely to have on the children's future well being.