Teens in the Wild

Teens in the Wild is an Irish observational documentary television series broadcast on RTÉ One. The series was presented by the clinical psychologist David Coleman,[2] who previously appeared in the television series Families in Trouble.[1]

Teens in the Wild
GenreObservational documentary[1]
Created bySam Donkey
StarringDavid Coleman
Country of originIreland
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes4 (series 1)
Production
ProducerChristine Thornton[1]
Release
Original networkRTÉ One
Original release2 February 2009 (2009-02-02)
Related
Families in Trouble
21st Century Child

The first series, broadcast in four parts over four weeks, followed six male teenagers, each with their own individual behavioural difficulties, as they undertook a three-week activity programme at Delphi Adventure in Connemara, County Galway during September 2008. It commenced broadcasting on 2 February 2009, airing each Monday at 21:30. The series producer, Christine Thornton, was reported as stating that the series would demonstrate "often dramatic and emotional insights" in relation to teenaged behaviour.[1]

The camp was declared a "once-off" experience by Coleman in a live web chat held on RTÉ.ie on 11 February 2009.[3] He also claimed that he would be open to doing a similar series involving teenage girls, since this one involved boys exclusively.[3] To supplement the show, Coleman initiated a regular slot focusing on teenage issues each Wednesday on the daytime television programme, Seoige.[3]

A second series aired in 2010, this time involving an all female cast.

Show history

Series one

Six male teenagers took part in the first series of Teens in the Wild.[4]

Fifteen-year-old Mikey from County Westmeath has a habit of being verbally abusive both at home and in school.[4] He has been known to unexpectedly disappear for several hours on numerous occasions. He is regularly involved in street brawls. Fifteen-year-old Jamie from County Cork has been suspended from school on numerous occasions and regularly engages in disputes with his own mother.[4] Fifteen-year-old William from Castlebar, County Mayo, is regularly involved in street fighting and has been told he may be permanently excluded from school.[4] Fifteen-year-old Kyle from Tralee, County Kerry, is unmotivated and this presents difficulties at school.[4] Sixteen-year-old Noel from Dublin has a quick temper, is regularly in trouble with his parents and seems to have difficulty recognising authority.[4] Fifteen-year-old Shane from County Kildare was a former a high achiever in school but has in the past year left without offering an explanation.[4]

Series two

RTÉ are currently requesting a new batch of troubled teenagers to come forward to feature in a second series.[5] It has been reported that they are all in fact to be females.[6]

The second series of Teens in the Wild began in 2010.

The Irish Times reviewer Kevin Courtney noted the return of Coleman to Irish television screens as "the agony uncle to another group of troubled teenagers, this time six girls with enough collective baggage to sink the Titanic".[7]

Reception

Whilst reaction from participants in the web chat which followed series one was generally positive,[3] some media outlets gave a negative response to the show. The Irish Independent noted the genre which the series placed itself in as being an "observational documentary" as opposed to reality television and questioned how the young people involved in the show could cope with their personal traumas in front of the cameras and general public.[8]

See also

References
  1. "Teens in the Wild begins on RTÉ One tonight". RTÉ. 9 February 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  2. "Tubridy Tonight line-up is revealed". RTÉ. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 17 April 2009.
  3. "David Coleman Webchat" Archived 31 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine. RTÉ. Accessed 10 April 2009.
  4. "The Teens". RTÉ. Accessed 10 April 2009.
  5. Do you want to participate?. RTÉ. Accessed 10 April 2009.
  6. "RTÉ seeks wild teens". Sunday Tribune. 29 March 2009. Archived from the original on 3 April 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
  7. Kevin Courtney (6 March 2010). "Rescue missions". The Irish Times. Retrieved 6 March 2010. DAVID COLEMAN is the agony uncle to another group of troubled teenagers, this time six girls with enough collective baggage to sink the Titanic. Teens in the Wild sees Coleman taking his charges on a journey of self-discovery – with a bit of canoeing, cycling and sailing thrown in, too. [...] The six rebellious teens bunk together, Big Brother-style – three weeks with no mobile phones and no access to drink. Pretty soon the group dynamics start to emerge. "Groups tend to isolate one scapegoat who they blame for everything", Dr Coleman informs us. Bono would know all about that. There are no scoreboards, no diary rooms, no bush tucker trials, but there is genuine tension as you wonder if Dr Coleman can succeed in keeping control of this volatile group for the duration of their stay.
  8. "Why RTÉ is so wrong to air this reality show". Irish Independent. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2009.
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