A CBS Reality Show Draws a Claim of Possible Child Abuse

[Brian Damage]

The show hasn't even debuted yet, but there's already controversy (though we thought one might be coming).

A parent of one of the kids on the new CBS Survivor/Lord of the Flies reality show Kid Nation has filed a complaint with New Mexico officials saying that the kids on the show were neglected. She says that one girl had her face burned by hot grease (she was cooking) and that other kids needed medical help after accidentally drinking bleach.


Most of the kids and parents have said great things about the show since filming ended, but a couple of parents and kids are saying they wouldn't do it again and it was a lot of work.

In case you haven't heard, Kid Nation is about 40 kids who are left alone in a deserted New Mexico town (actually old movie sets) to see if they can join together and create a society from scratch. It premieres September 19 at 8pm.


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/18/ar...ll&oref=slogin

[Ireneparalegal]

Hmmmm, that is not something I would want my child to do. 40 kids alone in a desert??????? These reality shows are really taking things too far.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

Hmmmm, that is not something I would want my child to do. 40 kids alone in a desert??????? These reality shows are really taking things too far.

I agree. What parent would agree to send off their kid to do something like that?

[robyrob]

Originally Posted by Brian Damage

I agree. What parent would agree to send off their kid to do something like that?

Joe Simpson.

...but its probably too late

[Ireneparalegal]

Originally Posted by robyrob

Joe Simpson.

...but its probably too late

I think those parents need to be looked at real good for even allowing their kids to participate in something so damn dangerous. They probably were only thinking abt $$$$$$.

[Brian Damage]

Originally Posted by Ireneparalegal

They probably were only thinking abt $$$$$$.

So true

[Mr. Television]

I wish all these reality shows would just disappear. They exploit everyone and it's worst here because kids are involved. They replaced Jericho with this.

[waichingliu81]

Originally Posted by Walking Tall

I wish all these reality shows would just disappear. They exploit everyone and it's worst here because kids are involved. They replaced Jericho with this.

man, hasn't reality tv really stooped to an all-time low or what?

[Rezny@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by waichingliu81

man, hasn't reality tv really stooped to an all-time low or what?

Yes,they have.Can't the networks come up with anything better than THIS?(And,believe it or not,I've heard that they've begun casting for a SECOND season of the show,and it hasn't even aired yet.)

[Mr. Television]

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive...idnation1.html

No Human Rights In "Kid Nation"



No liability for CBS in controversial "ghost town" reality series
AUGUST 23--Parents of minors starring in "Kid Nation," the controversial new CBS reality show, signed away their rights to sue the network and the show's producers if their child died, was severely injured, or contracted a sexually transmitted disease during the program's taping. The blanket liability waivers are contained in a detailed "participant agreement" prepared by the show's producers and signed by parents. That document, a copy of which you'll find below, also gave consent to CBS and its production partners to make medical treatment decisions on the minor's behalf (including surgery), though the network made no promises about the "qualifications or credentials" of medical professionals that might treat the stars of "Kid Nation," which was originally titled "The Manhattan Project." The show, which debuts next month, features 40 children (ages 8-15) living in a New Mexico "ghost town" for 40 days without adult supervision. Concerns about possible violations of child labor laws have prompted state officials to investigate the TV production. A copy of the participant agreement was provided to TSG by the New Mexico attorney general's office in response to an open records request. By signing the agreement, a parent gave CBS the right to "search the Minor's person and the Minor's belongings (including, without limitation, by x-ray or similar device)." Additionally, the agreement notes, "Kid Nation" participants "will have no privacy," except when they are in the bathroom. Provided, of course, that the child is actually "in the process of showering, bathing, urinating, or defecating." Parents are also asked to attest that their offspring has never been convicted of a misdemeanor or felony, and has never had a restraining order entered against them. The agreement also includes a strict confidentiality clause covering media contacts and the disclosure of anything learned during the show's production. If a parent or minor violates these confidentiality provisions, they will be liable to CBS for a $5 million penalty, according to the agreement. "Kid Nation" participants were paid $5000, though some earned $20,000 bonuses pegged to their performance in the program's individual 13 episodes.

[Zebra 3]

Congratulations to CBS for puking out an even worst pseudo-reality show than The Real Beverly Hillbillies.

[Mr. Television]

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...dlines-entnews

CBS puts kids in reality TV's tender care

'Kid Nation' doesn't exactly sound like summer camp.
By Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 26, 2007
OTHER TV executives must be envious. In the midst of an August notably devoid of buzz for new fall shows, CBS is already getting a huge burst of PR for one of its efforts.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, the show in question is "Kid Nation," the reality series that dumped 40 children at a New Mexico ranch for six weeks without any contact with parents or tutors. And although CBS says an army of child psychologists and others was on hand to keep the peace, it's unclear how many of these network-employed grown-ups were interested in the welfare of something besides a TV show.

What's clear is that the kids were overseen by TV producers and film crews who egged on the little ones to act out a junior-varsity version of "Survivor."

As a parent who's covered the television business exclusively for nearly a decade, I just think of the phrase "healthy environment for kids," and the first thing that pops into mind is the set of a reality-TV show.

"She feels like it was summer camp," Peggy, the mother of a 12-year-old "Kid Nation" resident, told my colleague Maria Elena Fernandez, who's been following the story. (CBS says it won't give out last names to protect the kids' privacy -- as if the kids will still have any once this thing airs on national TV.)

The show's executive producer, Tom Forman, also used the "summer camp" comparison.

Sure, it's a lot like camp, if by "camp" you mean a place where the organizers won't let you participate unless you sign a 22-page, single-spaced, legally exhaustive contract allowing them to whisk your child to unspecified "remote" and "inherently dangerous" locations. And wash their hands of any responsibility for the kid's life or safety (including any failure to conduct thorough background checks or to keep kids free from HIV or other sexually transmitted diseases: Who says our society won't give pedophiles an even break?). And, yes, stick a camera in the child's face anytime except for bathroom breaks.

The kind of camp this brings to mind has nothing to do with canoes, hiking and s'mores. The nation in "Kid Nation" makes North Korea sound utopian.

"It's ghastly and a shame," Paul Petersen, a former child actor, told me, referring to "Kid Nation." Petersen runs A Minor Consideration, a nonprofit watchdog and advocacy group that monitors child labor in the entertainment industry. "I've never seen anything like this, in terms of wanton disregard for the lives of children."

Faced with questions, authorities in New Mexico have admitted that a crackdown on the producers is now probably "moot," given that production wrapped in May. But last week, New Mexico's attorney general announced an investigation into whether state laws had been broken, valiantly slamming the door on the now-empty barn.

CBS, meanwhile, is defending itself with statements that sound drafted by the same lawyers who wrote that 22-page contract. The series was produced "within all applicable laws in the state of New Mexico at the time of the production," the network says, with "procedures and safety structures that arguably rival or surpass any school or camp in the country."

Love that "arguably." Well, who's going to argue? Certainly not the parents, who signed away their rights to speak publicly about "Kid Nation" without CBS' permission and face a $5-million penalty if they disobey. (Once I made clear my feelings about the show, a CBS spokesman declined on Friday to make any parents available for this column.)

You might say: Oh, what's the big deal? Kids act on TV shows all the time, don't they?

Sure they do; CBS owes part of its ratings success, in fact, to 13-year-old Angus T. Jones, the kid on the sitcom hit "Two and a Half Men."

But children's work on most shows, including those produced in California, are governed by state laws designed to protect kids. That's why child actors like Jones have restricted working hours, specific educational requirements, access to accredited "studio teachers" and the like. Whether those laws work well or even at all is open to debate -- the histories of Lindsay Lohan, Michael Jackson, Gary Coleman and many other former child stars make you wonder, don't they? -- but those are the laws.

But really, who wants to get buried under a bunch of boring old statutes when there's a reality series at stake? CBS filmed in New Mexico, where child labor enforcement is perceived to be much more lax than in California. The network also says the "Kid Nation" kids weren't employees, although here's betting the network won't mind reaping profits from whatever it calls what the kids were doing on its behalf.

Federal child-labor laws may not apply, because Hollywood has enjoyed an exemption for kid actors since the 1930s. "Kid Nation" suggests it might be time to revisit that exemption now. Want television network executives to take this issue seriously? Threaten their supply of photogenic juveniles who can do "adorable" on cue.

Meanwhile, who will protect children from the ravenous eyes, rapacious fingers and ratings-ravaged brains of TV executives? That should be a job for their parents, although the ones of the "Kid Nation" participants seem to have checked their brains and their judgment at the office door of Forman, the show's producer.

When asked whether she was concerned about her child's safety on the "Kid Nation" set, Shari, the mother of a 15-year-old boy from Nevada, told The Times' Fernandez: "You can't stop living and put yourself in a bubble because of safety. You lose out on some of life's experiences that teach you the most." (Yeah, like the time Mom left you for six weeks in the desert with a reality-TV crew.)

Suzanne, the mother of a 10-year-old Florida boy, said she asked her son how he'd feel if the show ended up revealing an embarrassing personal secret on national TV. "And he said he was fine with it, and I have confidence in him," she said.

Really, the faith that these parents have in the responsibility and sensitivity of reality-TV producers they hardly know is nearly as touching as the speed with which they surrender to their minor children the power to make and cope with life-altering, and possibly life-threatening, decisions.

Maybe the kids of "Kid Nation" weren't the only little children who needed protecting here.

Some skeptics on the Los Angeles Times' Internet message boards have dismissed the criticism of "Kid Nation" by saying everyone should hold fire until the show airs (CBS has sent out only a brief highlight reel so far). But we already know all we need to about the circumstances under which "Kid Nation" was produced; the actual content is beside the point. This isn't about the show's artistic merits.

This ultimately comes down not to parents or courts or TV execs, but to you and me. One doesn't get the sense CBS is ashamed of the controversy. Quite the contrary: They're vowing to air "Kid Nation" and are even making plans for another installment. Bad PR? There ain't no such thing, not in the TV world.

If adults want to engage in the freak-show exhibitionism that passes for much of the reality-show genre, that's their prerogative. But this is about kids. Remember them? Kids, whom our society pays endless lip service to protecting. Remember them before you tune in to "Kid Nation."

The Channel Island column runs every Monday in Calendar. Contact Scott Collins at scott.collins@latimes.com

[PrettyinPink55]

I heard about this on CNN. Seriously, what parent would sign their child up for a show like that? And why on earth would CBS pick it up???
I don't think reality TV can get any lower...

[Mr. Television]

Why do I think all the publicity is going to make this a hit?

[Ireneparalegal]

The parents received $5000 for their children to appear on the show. Was it worth it you worthless people???