CBS' Kid Nation Controversy: Blame the Parents!

Finally, some excitement is building for a new fall show. In fact, the buzz is deafening.

Unfortunately, it's not the kind of advance awareness a network hopes for when promoting a freshman series.

I'm speaking, of course, about Kid Nation, the CBS reality show set to premiere on September 19. The network is currently under attack from every direction, pounded with accusations of child abuse, child neglect, child manipulation and general all around deviousness.

Actually, I don't think CBS is reeling from any of this. In fact, I think the network is skillfully fanning the flames of this media firestorm. As you read this, CBS is recruiting children for a second season of Kid Nation on its Web site -- before anyone has even seen the first.

Why all the secrecy? Since the day last May when CBS Entertainment president Nina Tassler announced the impending arrival of Kid Nation the network has kept this pilot locked away in its vaults, far from interested critics, reporters and advertisers. We were all shown a few clips in May and received those same preview clips four weeks later in June when the network sent out rough cuts of its fall pilots. Fast-forward another four weeks, and attendees at the summer Television Critics Association tour were shown the same clips at the start of the press conference for Kid Nation, which turned out to be one of the livelier sessions of the tour because the controversy surrounding the network's treatment of children during the making of this show had already begun to simmer. And now, here we are, three weeks away from its premiere and nobody has seen this freakin' show.

Kid Nation, for the six people out there who may not know, is one of those unreal reality shows in which people are made to do things that never happen in real life. In this case, 40 children between the ages of 8 and 15 were shipped off to a ghost town in New Mexico where they were left for 40 days to set their own rules, create their own government and bring the town back to life while cameras rolled. There were no ongoing eliminations, but at weekly town meetings the kids were free to choose if they wanted to bail and go home. There were adult supervisors of all kinds around at all times, including the producers of the show.

The kids' parents signed off on this with full knowledge, I am told, that they would not be allowed on site. (Among other details, it has been widely reported that in the contract they signed parents agreed that the network would not be held liable if any of their little darlings became pregnant or contracted a sexually transmitted disease while livin' the dream in the great southwest!) CBS has made clear that it did not violate any child labor laws that existed in New Mexico at the time of filming earlier this year (even though the kids were involved in a 24-hour-a-day work effort). New Mexico has since changed its laws.

Right from the start there have been questions about this show. Way back in May some people were disturbed by clips of kids who were obviously mentally and physically exhausted weeping about one thing or another. But lately the questions and complaints have gotten downright ugly. We have heard that some kids accidentally drank bleach and others were spattered with cooking grease, and that they may or may not have received sufficient medical attention, and parents weren't informed of what happened. The wailing is growing louder by the day.

The one complaint I haven't heard anyone make is this: What is the value of a show in which kids learn that they can survive without their parents and other adult relatives, not to mention their teachers? Is this something any parent should encourage his or her child to participate in, or that a network should be encouraging millions of children to watch?

Without having seen the show (and whose fault is that?) my response is, I think not. If this show ends in any way other than with the kids realizing how much they need their parents and teachers it will be a disgrace. I have expressed this concern to dozens of advertisers, journalists and network executives with knowledge of Kid Nation since upfront week, and all but a couple of people have responded by looking at me as if a lizard were crawling out of a hole in my forehead.

Call me crazy, but I think adults play an important role in the lives of children -- especially their parents. That responsibility is not something to screw around with.

Sadly, as we are seeing with the Kid Nation crisis, it seems some kids might be better off without certain adults calling the shots. What kind of parents willingly sign the care and feeding (and, apparently, the sexual health) of their minor children over to a corporation for 40 days with the knowledge that their kids will be "utilized" in a profit-making operation intended to benefit a division of that corporation?

This situation is a mess no matter which way you look at it. For instance, it will be interesting to hear the truth about the bleach and grease incidents and any other hardships that may have befallen these children. Frankly, it doesn't sound like any of them were made to do anything that millions of children in every country haven't done in past generations -- help run their households, care for their siblings, do chores, learn the value of work and suffer the occasional boo-boo. I'm guessing that if any kids did indeed attempt to drink from a bottle of bleach they likely spat it out before swallowing and immediately rinsed their mouths out with water, and that the grease splattering has been grossly exaggerated. (Any child who has ever watched or helped his or her mother cook a meal has been hit with a stray spat or two and survived to tell the tale.) I'm betting there were many minor cuts, scrapes, bruises and other everyday child injuries that went unreported. If there were, big deal.

But, as far as any mental or emotional trauma that any of the kids may have suffered, the blame for that starts and stops with their parents. Shame on them all.