Is "Kid Nation" Exploiting Children?

By Anastacia Mott Austin

The mother of a girl who participated in the new CBS reality show "Kid Nation" now says her daughter was injured on the set. The girl reportedly suffered facial burns during a cooking segment. In addition, several other children on the show were treated after accidentally ingesting bleach.

The incidents have sparked debate about a show that separated children aged 8-15 from their parents for 40 days and relocated them to a New Mexico desert ghost town. The idea behind the concept was a "Survivor"- like scenario in which the children would have to form their own society without adult supervision.

Yet it is this very idea that so many find problematic. Why would parents willingly sign their young children up for something like this, people asked? The parents were required to sign a 22-page contract absolving the show’s producers from any liability whatsoever. Who would turn their children over to television producers?

In addition, debate has sprung up about whether the children involved with the show were breaking child labor laws. The issue has centered around whether the children were "working" or "participating" on the show. The program was filmed in New Mexico, where child labor laws are more lax than in California.

Each child received a $5,000 stipend for his or her "participation."

After receiving many complaint calls, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) began looking at the contracts the parents signed. Pamm Fair, deputy executive director for SAG, told reporters, "It’s been a long time since we’ve seen such egregious provisions [in a contract] for any performer, let alone children." The wording in the contracts included that statement that the filming location was "inherently dangerous," but that the show’s producers still could not be held liable in any way for injuries or accidents that might occur.

"To me, this is the sweatshop of the entertainment industry," added Jeff Hermanson, the assistant executive director for the Writers Guild of America, West.

Tom Forman, creator of "Kid Nation," argues that the children were treated well and adequately supervised by adults. "I think that some of the controversy comes from people who don’t believe that kids are as capable as I know they are," said Forman to reporters. "I saw it in my own kids and I saw it in these kids, that if you let them step up and take responsibility, they are smarter than anyone gives them credit for."

Forman added that the children involved in the show ultimately gained knowledge about themselves during the experience.

Mark Andrejevic, author of Reality TV, The Work of Being Watched, could not disagree more.

"In order to legitimate the free labor that they extract from cast members, every reality show producer claims that this is some kind of experience where people grow and learn about themselves," Andrejevic told reporters at The Los Angeles Times. "The producers rely on the tradition of the documentary to make this seem like it’s not exploitation when the only true commitment they have is to turn a profit."