In a nation with a one-child family planning policy, it's understandable for parents to worry over whether they are petting their children. Are the children truly as fragile as sometimes made out to be? The concern has been brought into focus with the popularity of a hit reality TV series, Hunan TV's Dad! Where Are We Going? and Zhejiang TV's First Time In Life. In both, children as young as three have become new public figures. In the show First Time In Life, children chosen from ordinary families are given small tasks to complete by themselves;the ongoing Dad! show centers on five celebrity fathers and their children who are forced to live a simple life in rural areas, far outside their comfort zone.      Regardless of their family background, the children's reactions to new environments have struck the public.       In one episode of Dad! , the five-year-old daughter of former Olympic diving champion Tian Liang cries and hides behind her father when they arrive at a rural village. In an episode of the other series, a young girl in Tianjin breaks down into a tearful fit after being asked by her father to go out alone to buy eggs and a pancake.      In the eyes of some observers, these kids show no sense of independence, and the reason is put down to parents who are overly sheltering. But television viewers and parents were heartened when the sobbing Tianjin girl finally wiped away her tears as she returned holding the pancake. In the case of Tian's daughter, she eventually began to take care of her younger companions and learned to seek help from people she didn't know.      The father of the Tianjin girl felt "delightfully shocked" and said. "She used to have to be accompanied by her mother or grandmother. Now she has the courage to do it all by herself. "     The shows have led many parents to change how they raise their children. Shanghai mother Liang Jing said she would try to "give some training" to her shy son, asking him to tidy up his toys. Lin Yi, a parenting expert in Beijing, said giving kids a chance to do things for themselves helps to raise their sense of achievement, which carries benefits throughout their lives. " The shows are bound to raise a wave of discussion about    .
protecting good traditions the social safety approaches to parenting the influence of TV programmes