Comments on: I do not care for Nigel Latta

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 10:16:57 +0000

Well, well…what a difference a year makes? Seems our Nigel is not as sharp as he would like us to think. Read the June 2010 issue of ‘Investigate’? To settle the argument does he receive payment for psychiatric assessments from CYF? The answer is yes, so ‘independant’ he isn’t.
‘Pro smacking’ I don’t think so. Just a bit of ‘Freudian’humour to lower your guard.Did you get fooled? Tell the truth John!Now who’s in the goldfish bowl?

By: Steve M

Steve M — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 09:09:49 +0000

I’ve only watch one episode of “Beyond the Darklands” and it’ll be the last.

Nigel is a self-righteous, judgemental twerp!

To hear him attribute 100% of blame on abused kids, without a mention of the criminal justice, mental health system and our societal responsibilies to children (ESPECIALLY ABUSED ONES!!) shows me he is clearly looking at the problem subjectively and probably with a view to profit from his books and TV shows.

Nigel is a classic example of puritan, Christian hypocrasy.

By: Jo

Jo — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:56:31 +0000

What an amazing read … very interesting stuff … and very funny in parts … I also have grandchildren, actually 6, 4 of whom are very young, 2 are babies … the 4 of these children are “wrapped in cotton wool”, their parents do not like the difficult rules and regulations of ‘The Nanny’ stuff … So many formulas … I wish I had known the stuff that Nigel is teaching when my kids were little … What ever anyone says on here, its good stuff that Nigel has, its easy to understand and accept, it has a little humor, it comes from experience, personal and work related, I would just like to thank him for being real … If it helps some of our young people today bringing up the next generation, I say … Go for it … WELL DONE … And thank you so much for helping my children have a better idea of bringing up their children … There is always controversy in this stuff, I had a very abusive upbringing … Bless you for showing us another way which is logical and easy to grasp … Jo

By: Kate

Kate — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 23:30:22 +0000

I wholeheartedly agree with BE on Nigel Latta. That he has some good methods to recommend does not mean that everything he says is correct. The whole program from “unpolitically correct” title to the extreme examples given as the result of “political correctness” is structured to juxtapose the ridiculous against Nigel’s “common-sense” ideas, thereby increasing the perception that he is common-sense. And yes, much of what he says does work and is common sense and is not rocket science (which is his point). So, why the need to pander to the right wing in order to sell common sense as common sense? Why introduce discipline in the form of a timeout with a rave about how the “anti-smacking” legislation (to adopt the common misnomer) has paralysed parents?
I agree it’s show-biz, but it’s dangerous show-biz. Because it encourages the holders of fanatical believers of “spare the rod spoil the child” that they are correct and their opinions are popular enough for a prime-time slot on network TV. I have encountered a mother in a playgroup who confidently delivered smacks to her 12 month old baby for wriggling while she changed him. She cited Nigel Latta as authority and asked if I thought she was a bad mother. I said yes, I thought that smacking a one year old was bad. Socially awkward, yes, but this is how wires get crossed.
Further, I have found watching the show, that personal preferences is mixed up with professional opinion. For example, Nigel was talking about how he thought the how idea of the walking school bus was “a bit naf really”, then he actually participated in one and thought it was quite cool. This is clearly just arbitrary personal opinion – but it is wrapped and delivered as a forensic psychologist imbued with the authority of expertise and of fame. After hearing him pontificating about the “walking school bus”, I am uneasy about how much of what else is said is professional expert opinion and how much is “just what Nigel thinks today” and whether Nigel or his producers are aware of the difference.

By: Coops

Coops — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:49:28 +0000

So Nigel makes his points by citing extreme examples. That’s standard oratory technique, and from what I saw he used it (mostly) effectively. I’m sure that highly intelligent highly educated 71-year-old criminal psychologists can soak this parenting info up like a sponge, but the target audience for this show are are average kiwi parents, and for them the extreme examples help the message to “stick”.

So Nigel doesn’t set bounds on anger or risk or agression. How can he? Different bounds are required for different circumstances and any attempt to suggest arbitrary limits for the entire target audience would be meaningless. I get it, of course. Some parents might use his advice to justify showing zero interest in their kids. But I expect such selfish people would already be well practiced in making up excuses for their actions – this programme wouldn’t make too much difference.

And there’s something to what Nigel is saying. My children (3 and nearly 5) are role models at their daycare and kindy – happy, confident, compassionate, and well behaved. When other parents ask my secret I tell them we used 3 simple rules to guide our parenting:

1. Feed the good behaviour (with attention), starve the bad.

2. Make bad behaviour their problem, not your problem.

3. Recognise the attention hierarchy:
– Kids prefer good attention (play, praise) to bad attention (scolding)
– Kids prefer bad attention to no attention (so if they are ignored, they will act up)
– Kids prefer parents attention to anyone else’s attention (so the attention of parents in particular, is the big influence on kids’ behaviour)

I know from experience these three rules work. And guess what? Nigel Latta covered all of them.

By: Jan Cox

Jan Cox — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:46:14 +0000

A brilliant programme, I bought the DVD to show my friends and family here in the UK.
It brings common sense back into parenting, life is competetive and choices always have a consequence.I wish there were more people with the same mind set as Nigel Latta.
Jan

By: Jax

Jax — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 05:34:15 +0000

I find Nigel Latta’s programmes full of common sense and I wish my children were watching it – I will be buying them copies of the DVD. My grandchildren are ‘wrapped in cotton wool’ and there does not seem to ever be consequences for bad behavior. For example I have never seen the children sent to their rooms or made to apologise for bad behavior. They also seem to have a lack of respect for other adults. I hate to think what this young generaton of children will grow up like – their parents appear to have no control over 5 year olds so how do they think they are going to cope with a stroppy teenager??

By: GE Poole

GE Poole — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 18:36:00 +0000

Apparently Nigel Latta now stands publicly accused of being a social conservative? He fails to display towards violent criminals the milk of human kindness and depth of understanding espoused by that erudite humanitarian recipient of the Media Peace Prize? All this recalls to mind an old Ybor City proverb: “Blessed is he who taketh himself seriously, for he doth create much amusement.”

By: pjr

pjr — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 22:47:46 +0000

Finally saw 15 mins of nigel Lattas show ,that was enough for me so I googled his name and ended up happily here.Brian imho your 71 yrs have been well spent and I find your opinion in this case to be worthy of a show in itself.Perhaps we could call it the Brian Edwards Show or the Public Eye,it would be far more usefull to me as a parent than Nigels show. I feel Nigels show is a case of give a man a fish rather than teach him how to fish.The topics he covers use headline grabbing statements and lack any depth of analysis or alternative solutions.Nigel Has become imo a media darling . Much like many other media darlings he needs to feed the media with what it wants.This generally does not provide a great basis for parenting but certainly makes popular entertainment.Does Julie Christie have any input into this show?It looks like it to me.

By: BE

BE — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:27:53 +0000

I think The Latta guy needs to start thinking about wat efects his aamazingly broad statemets and cliams might have on parents of young children especially.

I agree with your sentiment. Don’t think programming decisions would come under the Official Information Act though.