MasterChef Junior (USA)

Great fun program but in season 1 one of the children made me feel a bit worried. Sarah a 9yo really needs some attitude check by her parents. I get it is a competition but that's when you can see what they are really like as people interacting with others. She seems to lack empathy for others, enjoying when they mess it up and thriving when they get eliminated whilst the other kids get emotional showing sympathy for the other kids. Her saying you should keep your friends close but your enemies closer sounds like something you would hear from a sociopath adult not a 9 year old girl. Parents need to pay attention to these nasty behaviours while they are young, they will not always be small and cute and growing up without good values will not only hurt them but others.

I have seen most of the seasons of "MasterChef Junior" (I haven't seen the latest one) and there are two things about the show that really surprised me. First, while Gordon Ramsey has a reputation for being an angry guy who loves to scream at the chefs, here he is amazingly sweet with the kids...as are the rest of the cast. The only times I saw him really yelling involved kids about to serve way undercooked chicken...which could really hurt someone. In this case, his anger did seem appropriate. Second, the kids on the show are amazing....with unbelievable skills and great talent. Combining the two, you get a show which is wonderful to watch and quite clever.

In the day and age we're in, facing a huge problem with bullying, I think last nights show was terrible. Troy bullied that little girl almost the whole time they were in the kitchen and he gets kudos for it. I know no one patted him on the back for it but the underlying message is that it's OK to have bullying, even in a working situation and it's NOT. Parents have a hard enough time trying to teach their kids the right way to treat people and last nights episode fell right through the cracks. I've worked in kitchens and that is just not acceptable! Kids have a hard enough time growing up as it is now. They are forced to be small adults before they're even ready too. To be accepting of that kind of behavior is wrong. There's enough bullying in school, on the playgrounds, and sadly in jobs to be allowing it to happen on a kids based show. I do agree that kids should learn; age appropriately, that there will be winners and losers and at some point you will be on each end of it. I do not however believe we should be promoting a winner as someone who treats people like Troy did, I don't care how good the kid cooks - teach the lessons parents are stressing to teach their children!!

I was OK with the seasons leading up to this. It's amazing to see what the kids can do. And it's fun to watch them make their dishes. And you kind of get to know the kids over the season. It does put a lot of pressure on the kids and sometimes I think the hosts are intentionally cruel. I've been watching this show with my grandchildren who are 11 and eight. They are often appalled at the treatment of the kids and the pressure and rudeness that they are subjected to.

The judges are always kind of mean about things, but they also have had constructive and nice things to say about the kids. Not in season 8. I wonder if that's why the other woman host is not on this season. Maybe she didn't want to have any part of the bullying and brow beating this season.

Season eight is ridiculous. They've been giving these kids the hardest stuff that they've had in the whole eight seasons. Taste this and then cook it for me? Crazy! Cook with things They (and I) have never eaten and maybe never even heard of. Giving these kids things like Monkfish, frog legs sweetbreads, octopus, don't be ridiculous! And the hosts this season are especially rude and cruel. Also, I don't really get a feel for who these kids are. Usually I have kids that I think "oh I hope they win." Not this season. The kids who won MasterChef juniors in the past seasons had much more reasonable challenges, I believe.

I don't know what they're doing this season but it just seems thrown together. The hosts are mean-spirited and way too critical. It's no longer fun. It's just nerve-racking, annoying and upsetting.

AndI'm never going to buy one of their master said Junior cooking sets that they started advertising on the show this year!

I may never watch the show again!

I am far to be fan of this kind of competitions. First, because I believe than each of us is unique. Second, because the kids are not adults and the childhood must not be a battle field too early.

But I saw this contest for simple truth than the imagination and ingenuity of children is ust important as examples for adults.

Some of that exists.

Unfortunatelly, not very much.

But enough for a nice program . And for few revelations, joy and way to see the young people .

So, not a bad experience. Only not the most seductive.