Perspectives on Kid Nation

Just a disclaimer: I have never seen a single episode of Kid Nation, but from what I gather, this is pretty accurate.

From the official website:

In the end, will these kids prove to adults everywhere--and to their own parents--that they have the vision to build a better world than the pioneers who came before them? Just as importantly, will they come together as a cohesive unit, or will they abandon all responsibility and succumb to the childhood temptations that lead to round-the-clock chaos?

In this seemingly harmless explanation of the reality television show Kid Nation, CBS capitalizes on the perceived mental and physical weaknesses of teenagers created by American society, and perpetuated by the American mainstream media. Based on all the negative press swirling around this program, I can deduce that the teenagers that participated were unable to form that "cohesive unit" discussed in the summary, and opted to be stereotypically crazy and reckless teenagers. While it seemed that CBS wanted to prove that teenagers were able to be rational and self-sustaining, even if the program ended on such a chord, it is likely that this program did more harm than good. In fact, based on this week's articles, this program may have been disastrous!

According to Ellen Goodman's 'Kid Nation': CBS' New Reality Show Creates Little Capitalists (Found on AlterNet, which I love!), in addition to upholding that negative view of teenagers discussed earlier, it taught the participants how important the separations of class and labor are in a society. From the get go, the group was split into a sort of caste system: the upper class (Goodman could have easily interchanged this term with capitalist class), merchants, cooks, and finally the bottom of the barrel, laborers. Goodman feels that we shouldn't be surprised by these divisions and the fierce sense of competition, as it is merely a microcosm of the society that we live in today! A society where a small fragment of the population has a monopoly on the economic, social, and political capital. I agree wholeheartedly with her!

But, why would parents allow their children to participate in a television programs that explicitly portrays teenagers as imbeciles and comic relief, while implicitly validating the grossly unfair class system in the United States?! Oh.... duh!

I loved this quote from the Daum article:

A few decades ago, these same folks might have been pushing their kids to win a science fair. But now that the culture of celebrity worship spans several generations, and because it's a biological imperative for parents to want for their children what they couldn't attain themselves, it makes perfect sense that some may want to see their kids on reality shows more than they want them becoming doctors.

Who cares about a science fair or becoming a doctor when my child can be on a reality television show! Parental motivation for this, Daum argues, is that they feel that exposure of their children through the media protects them against "invisibility." She believes that its not just about achievements, but rather public achievements would be far more fruitful in the long run.

I really wished I had watched this show. I feel guilty saying that after bashing it... but it does sound funny :P I am interested to find out the racial and economic backgrounds of the participants, and the eventual winner(s). I'll bet you a dollar the winner(s) were mostly white and male...