Mom Raises Eyebrows at ‘Kid Nation’

Friday, September 7, 2007

Page 15

AT THE SIDEBAR (Column)

Mom Raises Eyebrows at ‘Kid Nation’

By J’AMY PACHECO

I’ve heard of some pretty strange things done in the name of entertainment, and have occasionally marveled at the mindlessness that can be found on television.

But one program in the fall lineup truly boggles my mind. “Kid Nation” is a reality show — allegedly – in which 40 children were dumped in New Mexico and given free reign to create their own society. Or something like that.

CBS has come under scrutiny for the show. Critics claim the producers went around California’s child labor laws by shooting out of state, and by calling the kids “participants” in a “summer camp” rather than contestants on a reality show.

The idea behind the show, as I understand from reading promotional materials on the show’s Web site, was to give 40 children, aged eight to 15, the opportunity to “Build a better world than the pioneers who came before them.”

C’mon. Even I know a little something about pioneers. I read all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” books many times – long before they, too, got sucked up by the tv people. Let’s face it – those kids aren’t living in the same world as America’s pioneers.

I don’t care what anybody says – there is a tremendous difference between trying to weather sickness, locusts, prairie fire and crop failures to keep from dying, and another to know you’re going home with a check in your pocket at the end of 40 days. There simply is no comparison.

Second on my agenda is this thought: Good Lord! Didn’t any of the show’s creators read William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies?”

I read the novel in middle school, and even in middle age, remain creeped out at the thought of little boys running around the jungle with big sticks sharpened at both ends. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, read the book.)

Even creepier is the idea that the people in charge DID read the novel, and wanted to see if children left on their own could actually remain civilized. I’ve been in enough elementary school classrooms to know that the answer is, “Ha!”

Don’t believe me? Visit an elementary school playground on a warm day near the end of the school year, and you’ll very likely see how quickly civilized society crumbles.

What really gets me is that there were 40 families who were willing to turn their children over to strangers for 40 days. It was hard enough for me to turn my child over to credentialed teachers on the first day of kindergarten. I can’t begin to imagine giving my daughter to strangers under the circumstances involved in the production of this show.

I understand the participants received $5,000 for their efforts; more if they won “summer camp” competitions. I asked my daughter how much it would be worth to her to say “Good-bye” to Mommy and Daddy for five or six weeks and live with strangers.

“You mean how much would I pay?” she asked. I explained how it worked, and she assured me she might consider it if they paid her $48,000.

I questioned the odd amount, and she reminded me of a time when a woman approached us in a discount store, remarked on my daughter’s good looks, and gave me a card to bring her to a television “audition.” I forgot about the incident right after learning the company’s mode of operation is to bring in children, convince them they’re going to be stars, and charge their parents a fortune for books to tell them how to do it on their own.

My daughter reminded me that the woman had voiced the opinion that my daughter could make $48,000 in television, and that I had answered her query affirmatively – that $48,000 was enough money to get to Disney World and back.

In the long run, my daughter said she wasn’t interested. But CBS is already looking for kids to go a second round, according to the show’s Web site. This time, the participants have to have a valid passport. To my motherly mind, that can’t portend good things for the next season, and it certainly does nothing to put my suspicious mind at ease.

Will I watch the show? Probably at least once. See, the advertising material I received for the show pictured 23 or 24 kids in triumphant poses. I’d sort of like to know what happened to the other “participants.” I didn’t see any pointed sticks in the ad, but it definitely makes this mommy wonder…