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This Morning fans fume 'this is why kids commit crimes!' at parenting expert's VERY controversial advice - but who's in the wrong?
This Morning fans fumed 'this is why kids commit crimes!' as a parenting expert shared some very controversial advice.
Yesterday's episode of the ITV chat show saw presenters Ben Shephard, 50, and Cat Deeley, 48, sit down to discuss parenting approaches as part of the This Morning's View segment.
One panellist, TV presenter Trisha Goddard, 67, addressed recent controversial comments made by BBC newsreader turned child therapist Kate Silverton, 54.
Kate told the award-winning Netmums parenting podcast earlier this week: 'It's just a fallacy to call children naughty.
'They're not making conscious choices for the majority of the time. They are driven by a very, very immature brain and a nervous system that very often is being triggered.'
She added labelling children as 'naughty' wrongly makes them believe that defines them and can therefore be psychologically damaging to them.
When Ben and Cat asked for Trisha's reaction to the comments on This Morning yesterday, she backed Kate up.
Trisha explained: 'I always believe in labelling the behaviour and not the person.
'Naughty is probably the light end but if you keep telling a child they're stupid or they don't know what they're doing or, "Gosh, you're always clumsy", it absolutely does sit in their head and set a trend.
'If you talk about the behaviour rather than labelling the child, it's a much better way to go.'
She further explained the distinction by saying, for example, it is more constructive to tell a child, 'That was a stupid thing to do', rather than, 'You are stupid'.
Kate advocates for this approach to the extent she published a book in 2021 called There's No Such Thing As Naughty.
The parenting guide for those with children under five offers techniques to manage everyday challenges and forge a strong bond with them from the start.
'At the heart of the book is a simple and revelatory way to understand how your child's brain develops and how it influences their behaviour', the synopsis reads.
It claims to offer 'a new understanding that for under-fives, there can be no such thing as "naughty"'.
But many viewers, hearing Kate's comments repeated on This Morning yesterday, felt this parenting approach was too soft, taking to X to express their disapproval.
One wrote, The Mirror reports: 'If you don't tell a child off then they will think that their behaviour is acceptable.'
Another went even further: '"Stop calling kids naughty". This is why kids carry knives and commit crimes we see today. Soft parenting.
'The kids parenting the parents because the parents start to become scared of their own kids because they aren't dealt with correctly!'
Someone else asked: 'What would Trisha say about the actions of the killers of Bhim Kholi?'
They were referring to the 80-year-old man who was killed after being racially abused and attacked while walking his dog in a park near his Leicestershire home in September last year.
Earlier this month, a 15-year-old boy was jailed for seven years for manslaughter while a 13-year-old girl received a youth rehabilitation order and six-month curfew for the same offence.
They took to X to express their disapproval
In the same podcast interview, Kate added: 'Our children internalise every day.
'They're taking in messages from us, from their friends, from their teachers. And words carry such weight of meaning.
'"Oh, stop being silly". "Oh, you are so naughty". "Oh, he's the naughty one".
'We all fall into that trap but our children are paying very close attention to how we think of them.
'And we might dismiss it as a comment - "Oh, he's so untidy". "Oh, she's always late". "She's a bit of a scatterbrain".
'They are internalising. And what they're internalising - because, again, they don't have that fully formed rational brain - "I'm bad. I'm naughty".
'And then it becomes: "That's me. That's who I am".'
Elsewhere in the same episode as this controversial parenting discussion, Cat left fans open-mouthed as she revealed her real name live on air.
The presenter made the surprise confession during a heartwarming segment for Thank A Teacher Day, where she was reunited with her former primary school teacher.
Cat and Ben had been listening to children share stories about their favourite teachers at a school in Surrey when the emotional surprise unfolded.
Mrs Cotterill, Cat's own teacher from her school days, appeared via video link - and casually referred to her by her real name, catching viewers off guard.
Addressing the star, she said: 'Her name is Katie.'
Ben said to Mrs Cotterill: 'Because you of course know her as Katie.'
Cat, who received a glowing report from Mrs Cotterill, revealed her real name is Catherine.
She went on to share she was known as Katie during her childhood - a far cry from the name fans have come to know her by over the years.
'Well, my real name is Catherine but my grandad always used to call me Katie and my mum and dad and stuff,' she said.
'Unless I was in trouble, then I was sometimes Catherine!'
Giving her feedback on Cat, who was delighted to see the familiar face, Mrs Cotterill said: 'She was very enthusiastic, a very kind child.
'Always wanting to help, always wanting to be involved, just actually, an all-round super person.'
Cat grew up in Birmingham, attending Grove Vale Junior School before moving on to Dartmouth High School.
At just 14, she made it to the national finals of a modelling competition run by the BBC programme The Clothes Show.
Her success led to a modelling contract - and it was during this time her name was shortened to Cat, marking the start of her career in the spotlight.
