Ten boys and ten girls were left unsupervised in a house for a week as part of a controversial social experiment and the results were frankly chaotic.
You can watch segments from the experiment below:
Back in the early 2000s, producers from Channel 4's Cutting Edge decided to put together a documentary titled Boys Alone.
Advert
The episode pretty much does what it says on the tin - ten boys aged 11 to 12 were sent to live in a beautiful home in Hertfordshire for five days.
No parents, no adults (aside from those behind the camera), and none of them had met each other beforehand.
The house and garden were stocked with toys, paints, books and games, as well as a kitchen full of food.
The episode aired in 2002, only to be shortly followed by another in which the exact same experiment was conduced, only this time with a group of ten girls.
Advert
It was a modern-day Lord of the Flies situation, and while thankfully no one died, it didn't take long for things to descend into chaos.
In the case of the boys, they split into groups and almost everything in the house was destroyed.
Despite the variety of food on offer, they mostly lived off sugary cereal and fizzy drinks.
Advert
One of the boys named Michael was made to be a scapegoat by much of the group, and was even tied to a chair in the garden at one point.
When it came to the girls, chaos also ensued, no doubt due to the excitement of having no adults around.
But there was more organisation, with a couple of the girls taking it upon themselves to cook meals and clean up.
In the footage above, they can be seen eating one of the meals together at the table before another two girls organise a fashion show as a form of entertainment for the group.
Advert
Although the documentaries proved an interesting watch for viewers back at home, there was some controversy at the ethics of allowing a bunch of kids to live alone for this length of time - and have it broadcasted on national telly.
Speaking to the Mirror in 2009, when Channel 4 organised a similar social experiment for a documentary, Ruth Lewis, a mum of one of the boys named Sam, spoke out and said she regretted allowing him to take part.
"That show was awful. If I had my time again I would say no to allowing him on the show. It was just chaos and mayhem," she said.
Advert
"Watching this new show, I did think I can't believe I did that to my son. It was horrible watching it again. It's an awful lot for a child to go through at that age."
Sam, who was 19 years old at the time of the interview, added: "Any boy would say yes to an opportunity like that, but that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. I'd never missed my mum more in my life.
"It was mayhem and became depressing as the house divided into the two gangs and war broke out.
"The place was trashed and I'm ashamed to say that I even turned into a bit of a hooligan."
Featured Image Credit: Channel 4Topics: UK News, Channel 4, Documentaries