Reality Shows Demonstrating Poor Judgment:
Kid Nation: I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that they found at least 40 families willing to let their 8 to 15-year-olds be exploited on-camera for 40 days to help boost CBS’ ratings. Is this unsettling to anybody else? Are there no child labor laws in New Mexico? Does anybody really believe these kids are left "alone" in a New Mexico ghost town? If this show isn’t phony, then it’s probably illegal, and beyond both of those it shows unbelievably bad judgment. I’ve got no problem with adults humiliating themselves for their 15 minutes, but could we leave the 8-year-olds out of it, please?
Today, we find out that some of the parents are suing CBS and the show did, apparently, violate child labor laws. Once again your Daily Dollop proves its mettle as the premiere source of uninformed news and opinion.
Bottom line to the stupid parents: it's your freaking job to protect your children from child exploiters, not to complain about the terms the exploiters offer you. If a creepy guy in a raincoat shows up and asks to spend a few hours alone with your son or daughter in exchange for a hundred bucks, you don't haggle. You throw the bastard out on his ear, preferably after removing some dangling appendages.
Why must this be explained to some people? Someone thought letting their 8-year-old go off into the desert with no adult supervision was a good idea?
