Parenting help

Lan Hai (center), Yang Yuancao (third from right) and Zhong Peijing (second from right) gather for the promotion of Chinese Super Nanny. The first episode of the program will be aired on China Central Television on Dec 13. Photo provided to China Daily

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After one or two days of observation, Lan Hai, the "super nanny" on the show, points out envy, insecurity, craving of love and most importantly, lack of family rules, as the underlying causes of the girl's misbehavior. Lan then teaches the parents to use specially designed tools to control the child, which proved to be effective.

"Children are very sensitive, and they will respond according to the situation they are in. In this case, the older girl's bad temper and behavior was in response to the different ways her parents and grandparents treated her and her sister," Lan says.

"Parents invite me to their home to solve their children's problems, and it always turns out that the root of the problems are not the children, but themselves."

Zhong Peijing, an early childhood education specialist with Gymboree, the largest early childhood learning programs provider in China and partner of the TV program, agrees.

"The cases in Super Nanny are all different, but they are very typical of what's happening in Chinese families," Zhong says.

"Children are born innocent, and family interaction molds them. If children grow up having bad behavior or anything else, the causes must be the parents and other family members."

During her career, Zhong has encountered many different cases of child-rearing problems.

She found children who are left with their grandparents have the most problems.