Outrageous Reality TV
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
CBS has a new reality show debuting this fall: Kidnation.
The premise is simple: children age 8 to 15 try to make an utopian, adult free society in the New Mexico desert. (Because we all know that kids in the throes of adolescence are much more capable of administering a fair and balanced local government than adults with experience, educations, and a consciousness of history, just look at how gym locker rooms are run, without adults present!)
Why New Mexico? They needed to keep the project secret. Entertainment Weekly reports that the parents were required to sign a 22 page waiver, acknowledging that their children would be put into dangerous situations and could possibly even die. They agreed not to hold producers responsible for heat illnesses, shark bites, falls, and any other contingencies the lawyers could think of. The waiver also stipulated that the parents would be responsible for any fallout (physical or emotional) from sexual relationships formed with other kids. Hmm... send my 9 year old into a camp with 14 and 15 year olds, unsupervised, for 40 days? I think NOT!
New Mexico is now investigating the producers to determine if they violated the child labor law (the kids were filming for 40 days) as well as possible child endangerment. The Screen Actor's Guild is looking into it, as well, and they will have influence even if it is determined no laws were broken.
I think the parents should be charged with child endangerment - knowingly placing their kids in a dangerous, unsupervised environment for days at a time. The parents were not on site during filming. Several children accidentally drank bleach and one girl suffered grease burns while cooking on a campfire.
Is this what we've come to? Instead of protecting and nurturing our kids, we hand them over to TV producers to make a quick buck ($5000 each)? We are outraged over dog fighting, but are willing to lounge on the sofa and be entertained by the exploitation of children.
Parents, let your CBS affiliate know that airing this show is a bad decision! I wonder who the corporate advertisers are?
The premise is simple: children age 8 to 15 try to make an utopian, adult free society in the New Mexico desert. (Because we all know that kids in the throes of adolescence are much more capable of administering a fair and balanced local government than adults with experience, educations, and a consciousness of history, just look at how gym locker rooms are run, without adults present!)
Why New Mexico? They needed to keep the project secret. Entertainment Weekly reports that the parents were required to sign a 22 page waiver, acknowledging that their children would be put into dangerous situations and could possibly even die. They agreed not to hold producers responsible for heat illnesses, shark bites, falls, and any other contingencies the lawyers could think of. The waiver also stipulated that the parents would be responsible for any fallout (physical or emotional) from sexual relationships formed with other kids. Hmm... send my 9 year old into a camp with 14 and 15 year olds, unsupervised, for 40 days? I think NOT!
New Mexico is now investigating the producers to determine if they violated the child labor law (the kids were filming for 40 days) as well as possible child endangerment. The Screen Actor's Guild is looking into it, as well, and they will have influence even if it is determined no laws were broken.
I think the parents should be charged with child endangerment - knowingly placing their kids in a dangerous, unsupervised environment for days at a time. The parents were not on site during filming. Several children accidentally drank bleach and one girl suffered grease burns while cooking on a campfire.
Is this what we've come to? Instead of protecting and nurturing our kids, we hand them over to TV producers to make a quick buck ($5000 each)? We are outraged over dog fighting, but are willing to lounge on the sofa and be entertained by the exploitation of children.
Parents, let your CBS affiliate know that airing this show is a bad decision! I wonder who the corporate advertisers are?
Labels: children, Rants and Raves
posted by Milehimama @ Mama Says at 9/04/2007 07:19:00 AM | Permalink |
|
