I'm very disturbed by the promo for "Kid Nation."

Drew Dad I was wondering the same thing. I was also wondering what parent in their right mind would allow their child to go on such a show?

You mean the kids were as young as 8? My own daughter is 8 and I would never in my wildest dreams imagine allowing her to do this.

Can they actually hold children to signing a contract? I thought (now granted my consumer law class is fuzzy now) that children cannot be held to a contract - but this may be a state law - perhaps New Mexico does not have such a law?

How about child abuse/child endangerment - not caring properly for a child - isn't there such laws in New Mexico?

[URL=<object><param></param><param></param><embed></embed></object>]Kid Nation Promo - CBS[/URL]

The promo makes me want to cry. Kids are not made for the kind of stress these idiots have put them under. Surely most of the parents of those 40 kids had no idea that these children would be put up to this kind of pressure? What makes them think this would be a good thing for their kids? Makes me so sad.

It's completely beyond me, too.

You mean the kids were as young as 8? My own daughter is 8 and I would never in my wildest dreams imagine allowing her to do this.


My understanding is that minors cannot enter into contracts. We may have to wait three years to see these waivers tested, however.


Apparently, they rushed the production to slip in under the wire before new labor laws took effect.

I guess I am missing something big here..

I have not seen the promo.

Where can I view it?

I found this on the NYT website -- might not be accessible to all, let me know if not:

http://video.on.nytimes.com/index.jsp?fr_story=06f440469139b9a093f14b4f00c83d168d48d1a9

it is working

Kid Nation Promo - CBS

Let me try again...I am so technologically backward...

I think this is it Shewolf

One other concern is to think of the way they will probably edit the kids. Think about how in Survivor they make some appear villainous or stupid. Now imagine a kid facing their entire school after having been made to look like an idiot or cruel on national TV.

I guess I can play the devils advocate here.

I don't see too much of a problem with this.

MIND YOU- I do not agree with the danger these kids could have, and might have been in. Anything that requires a parent to sign over their rights to sue due to physical damage to their child should be questioned. Period.

but, the idea of the show seems really cool.
I mean, how often is it that our kids get a chance to really be a part of something and really accomplish important things?
Yeah, you can say that they have that chance in school. Where grades are an accomplishment and communication boundaries are a challenge.
But that isn't quite enough. School fades in time, and the social status we acquire inside the school walls leaves us almost every time we change grades. Nothing is stable. Nothing is constant.

If you go back 120 years ( for sake of argument ) kids WERE doing the things these kids are on TV. They had a definitive place in thier family. They were responsible for important tasks in the family , and on the farm on a constant basis. They had pressure to perform, and chances to prove their abilities in stable environments.

They learned by creating and were taught from an early age to be a part of something.
Today, our kids don't have that opportunity. We spend alot of time trying to ensure that they stay kids to the point that I believe kids can miss out on self defining moments and abilities. As they grow, they feel no responsibility because everything has been done for them, or has an easy answer.
They don't see the fruits of their labor at all.
These kids on the other hand do. They see the society working, they understand how a store functions, and they are allowed to work out their issues as they choose to. Even if it includes fighting and screaming.
Adults do it, so why cant a child?

now, dont hear all of this and think I support the show.
I am appalled that kids would be allowed to be taken from the very state they live in and shipped to another with out parents for a mere 5,000.00

But, just like in survivor shows, you KNOW the adults are not completely out of the picture. That would be child abandonment and endangerment and that is illegal. Its isn't possible.

Remember when that guy fell into the fire pit? With in minutes people were coming out of the woodworks to help him?
I am willing to bet that the same thing applies here. The adults are there, just on the outside of the town, watching but not interfering.
I think the " with out parents" sales point is merely shock value and nothing more.

Shewolfn - even considering the positive aspects - they are exploiting these children. They will edit so some appear to be mean, stupid, etc. How will this emotionally affect them afterwards?

I guess it also depends on to what extent there is adult supervision? Is it really safe for an 8 year old to be cooking with a stove and using fire? Just because things were done a certain way out of necessity or ignorance 120 years ago does not mean it is a good thing or o-k. Children also did not have as high a mortality rate 120 years ago as they do today.

Whatever the situation, I still think 8 years old is too young.

I'm not against giving kids responsibilities, but the promo certainly made it sound as if they were expecting a lot out of these kids.

And I don't see that there's any excuse for a kid drinking bleach.

I'd be curious though how the heck this happened.

drinking bleach???

what????


I guess, the promo I saw made it out to be a much more tame show then the ones y ou are seeing.



And I agree with you LC.
I dont think this is ok . At all. I just see a few small positives in here, but if it is littered with kids drinking bleach?????!!! then, I have to retract anything positive I thought about this show at all.

my god.

"A few" was the report.

"Though CBS denies any wrongdoing and has said that the making of the show did not violate any laws, some "Kid Nation" participants -- all of whom were between the ages of 8 and 15 -- were injured during the course of the filming, according to news reports. A few young participants accidentally drank bleach, one kid sprained an arm and one child sustained a burn from hot grease."
From this article

I will probably watch the first episode, cause I'm a reality show freak (okay, mostly Survivor). And it does sound like an interesting concept.
I have been disturbed by the fact that parents have allowed their childern to be on a reality show like this, even before I ever read anything about injuries.
When will reality shows go too far? Or have they?

Course, when I read this from the same article:

"In order for a reality show … to really get out there and change the landscape of television, you have to sort of stir public debate," CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler said about "Kid Nation" at a press event in July. "We know we're going to create some controversy. … But I think the whole objective was to get out there, do something different, and try and reach out and have people talk about the show, which is what's happening."

It made me feel a little ill. For CBS, it sounds like it's about ratings and that's it.

For me, I was more interested in what the kids would make of a world of their own...
But reality shows that are only made to watch people cry are not my taste.
Watching childern getting hurt and crying is sounding like an even crappier idea.

hmm, sounds like I might not be watching...

Did you see this spoof?

I'll grant that I'm one of the odder a2kers. Odd among the odd...

but, one of the reasons I gradually stopped watching tv was the annoying tones of the voices. The voices of the polished purveyors of TV News (I have an anchor friend, but even so.) The voices I hear on friends' tvs on shows like CSI... There's this level of hokum that drives me nutso. Not every show, of course, but I give that as a generalization. Helen Mirrin's acting, for example, is only good, to me.

So when I read about this potential program, I hear, in my mind, the commentary, and cringe. I agree with all the caution/dismay people have expressed on this thread so far.

My goodness that nearly made me pee my pants!

Here I thought they were going to miss all of the Lord of the Flies references, but the caught 'em, and still thought they were being pitched a real show.