Kid Nation on CBS is the new reality program that lets children from the ages of 8 to 15 run their own little world in a deserted ghost town in New Mexico. (Just a little thought after typing everything out, run your own "nation..." so kids are able to violate their constitutional rights?)
When I first saw the advertisement for this, I thought that this is a smart idea, but then when the news got around that the idea may be too controversial, I had to really think about this again.
People have accused the program of the following:
- Child exploitation
- Child abuse
- Child neglect
- Parents signing away their children
- Child labor laws
- Actor union violations
- Etc.
One in particular is that the parents sign away their children to television producers to make this program. The contract itself is so restrictive that the children must follow orders 24/7, otherwise they can be kicked out. Then the parents must understand that if they yap about the show to the media, they get sued for $5,000,000 versus the shitty $5,000 per child stipend for participating. How about the injury or death policy? It says that CBS is not held responsible if they get injured or die as a result of participating. So let me get this straight, if I were to die because of negligence of a producer or a contractor who lets say built the property or equipment, my folks can't sue them?
This almost sounds like the parents are really just pimps and are prostituting their young to follow orders from producers to get the stipend, which is eventually given to the parents. Are parents really that gullible to sign that contract? Sometimes I don't like the idea of child actors, just look at Gary Coleman! Everyone knows that his parents were just pimpin' him out and taking his money/income.
Makes me wonder if those "nanny" reality TV shows does the same concept, parents pimp their "out of control" child to producers to psychologically brainwash them to be "good."
Also, don't we have some really decent child labor laws in this country? I know that in California, they must have a permit from the Labor Commissioner's office and understand that they cannot do certain work and work so many hours in a week/day. How can New Mexico be that stupid to not really put some decent child labor code laws on the books?
I can totally understand if adults want to sign their own contract to be on a reality program, but to sign-off for your kids might be a really bad idea, even if the child originally says yes to participating. Ever think of the long term psychological consequences of this?
One parent said to the press (with CBS's interview coaches feeding shit into this mother's brain) that it's like camp... Yeah, labor camp. Would someone please slap these parents?
Let's summarize my rants:
BOYCOTT KID NATION
Please slap the parents and producers.
Reality shows suck, big time.
CBS has hit a real new low this time... and I thought Big Brother sucked ass.
I did a past blog about a controversial racial comment on CBS, read this.
