Is CBS reality show 'Kid Nation' just child's play?

Just when Americans thought they had seen it all when it comes to reality television, CBS, the oldest-skewing network, has come up with a humdinger: "Kid Nation."

For 40 days in April and May, CBS sent 40 children, ages 8-15, to a former ghost town in New Mexico to build a society from scratch. With no access to their parents, not even by telephone, the children set up their own government, laws and society in front of reality television cameras. The goal, according to creator Tom Forman ("Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Armed and Famous"), was for "kids to succeed where adults have failed."

But CBS, the network that got the reality ball rolling in 2000 with "Survivor," had more in mind when it decided to run this social experiment of sorts. Recognizing that ratings are not enough in the age of rabid Internet fans, entertainment president Nina Tassler had been craving watercooler buzz for her network for a couple of seasons.

So Ghen Maynard, CBS executive vice president of alternative programming, attempted to "wake up the attention" of children with a program that allowed them to "identify with people of their own age," he said in an interview. "I thought it could be a way to try to get some attention on a broadcast level for a new kind of show, one that really put young kids to the test."

Attention has not been a problem for "Kid Nation." Even though the show doesn't premiere until Sept. 19 and no one has seen more than a four-minute trailer running on TV and the Web, it stands as the most controversial show of the fall season. On July 16, Television Week revealed that sources in the New Mexico Department of Labor claimed the children worked as many as 14 hours a day and were taken advantage of because of statutes on the books that protected theatrical and film productions from child-labor restrictions.

That same week, CBS kept the children and parents away from the media during a tense news conference in which TV critics grilled Forman and the show's host about the legal, moral and ethical issues arising from their unconventional production. Of the 40 children, 12 are 10 or younger and only one is 15. Twenty-two of the participants are boys, 18 are girls.

Last week, CBS issued a statement to the Los Angeles Times to dispute the "course of action being taken by one parent in distorting the true picture of the 'Kid Nation' experience." The statement referred to a complaint filed in June by the mother of a 12-year-old contestant from Georgia who was burned in the face while cooking. The complaint was forwarded to the Santa Fe County sheriff, who found no criminal wrongdoing related to the show's production.

Network defends the show

Forman and a CBS attorney also defended the production. "These kids were in good hands and were under good care with procedures and safety structures that arguably rival or surpass any school or camp in the country," the statement read.

"Who is ultimately responsible here, the network that dangles the $20,000 prize in front of these parents or the parents who have allowed or encouraged their children to move forward with this situation?" asked Matthew Smith, chairman of the Department of Communication at Wittenberg University in Ohio and editor of "Survivor Lessons: Essays on Communication and Reality Television."

"Obviously, the situation wouldn't exist if CBS didn't say, 'Come, but don't bring your parents.' But also, the parents, after I'm assuming reading lengthy legal documentation from CBS, still went through with it and said, 'Go on ahead. I think little Suzie or Johnny can be fine for a period of 40 days without me.' Even when I say that aloud, my eyebrows start to do funny things."

CBS and the producers are also contending with the public statements of New Mexico state officials, who said that the producers and CBS sidestepped child welfare and labor laws.

At issue is whether Good Time TV Inc., Forman's production company, was required to apply for work permits or special waivers for the children. State officials said they were required to, but CBS and Forman said they did not have to because the children were not employees.

Late last week, the New Mexico attorney general's office said it was launching an investigation into whether CBS and the producers broke state laws. Among the issues the attorney general will review will be the production's permit process, the contract between the parents and the producers and whether the production company illegally refused to allow inspectors on the property for routine inspections.

Forman, a 34-year-old father of two, likens the experience to "going to summer camp" and says the children, like all reality show stars, "were not working; they were participating" and set their own hours. None was eliminated, and all were free to leave at any time. (In fact, a few did. A request to interview those participants was denied by CBS because of the potential for spoiling story lines.)

During recent telephone interviews with four of the children after CBS announced the cast, the "pioneers" revealed they awoke about 6 a.m. to a bell on top of a hill and decided on their own when to turn in for the day. In the evenings, after cooking sometimes for "3 1/2 hours or something" on a wood-burning stove, the children relaxed in each other's bunk rooms or threw parties at the town saloon, where they could buy root beer.

"To say that these kids aren't working is absurd," said Mark Andrejevic, associate professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa and author of "Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched." "This is a smooth move that reality television has been able to make, and I think the only reason they get away with it is that they're trading on a history of documentary filmmaking. But work means submitting to conditions that are set by employers in order to generate profit for those employers. To me, the only reason you can say that kids are not working is because they're not getting paid or are underpaid. In any other industry, this would be called exploitation."

What's the payoff?

The children were paid a $5,000 stipend each, and some received other financial rewards for challenges, but parents interviewed said they had no knowledge there was the potential to earn $20,000 gold stars until the children returned. Producers had mentioned hypothetically during the interviews that the children might win products, such as iPods or computers.

"I didn't even ask that," said Peggy, the mother of 12-year-old Laurel of Boston. (CBS, which arranged the interviews, would not release the parents' last names to protect the privacy of the children.) "I don't think that she or I feel that she worked any of the time she was there. For her, it was just her normal everyday. She feels like it was summer camp. And I guess that would be a summer camp with cameras. This was a fun adventure for her."

In the past month, critics have also lambasted the parents, especially those with very young children, for allowing them to take part. But the parents interviewed said part of the reason they felt their children would be safe is that even though the show's trailers claim there were no adults in Bonanza City, there were plenty. In addition to the production staff, physicians, psychologists, animal wranglers and wildlife experts were always on hand.

"Any kind of television experience is fraught with potential rewards and detriments," Smith said. "When a parent sends a child into this situation, there's a good chance that it could help the child build self-confidence, build social skills and build a network. But you don't know that going in, because it could be that your child suffers the detriments. It could suggest deficiencies that they have. They could regret the appearance and they could regret the fame."

Forman says he thinks the criticism is "reasonable," considering no one has seen any actual footage. The mothers of three of the children gave their resounding support for the producers and network during interviews.

"First of all, I don't think that you can make a judgment about something that you haven't seen," said Suzanne, the mother of 10-year-old Zachary of Miami Beach. "And I know that Zachary came home a stronger, more confident and more self-reliant child. So for me the proof is in the pudding."

BY MARIA ELENA FERNANDEZ
Los Angeles Times
August 28, 2007
Copyright © 2007, Newsday Inc.

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Would you participate in this show if you could?

Do you think your parents would let you?

Do you think that what the children were doing is more like ‘working’, or more like ‘summer camp’?

On other reality shows, some participants end up looking bad, or foolish as the show exploits their weaknesses. What do you think that this would do to a younger child?

Are you going to watch this show?

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