No small concern

YOUR review of NBC’s new reality series, “The Baby Borrowers,” makes light of the perceived entertainment value that the babies and toddlers who are unwittingly thrust into the show provide to the viewing audience [“When Reality Bites -- and Cries and Spits Up,” by Mary McNamara, June 25].

While the review acknowledges that babies cry a lot, especially when separated from their real parents, it overlooks the potential damage this show could have on these young children who are used as pawns. NBC calls this show an “intriguing new social experiment,” but it ignores a large and robust body of research amassed over 80-plus years demonstrating unequivocally that babies and toddlers suffer when exposed to prolonged separation and left with people they do not know or love.

Legitimate social experiments are not conducted on national television or on reality shows. “Baby Borrowers” may have a catchy theme, but it exploits young children with potential harmful consequences -- all in the name of entertainment. Shame on NBC.

Richard Atlas

Los Angeles