Kid Nation

This week was the season finale of the CBS reality series, "Kid Nation." Before the show even aired it caused a great deal of controversy with legal disputes about child labor laws and the like. Dealing with kids is always messy legally, which is why I think most networks have avoided it until now. But frankly, I think "Kid Nation" is one of the most innovative reality shows on television and even though I didn't start watching until almost half way through the season, I became completely addicted. I think the concept - of taking 40 kids and putting them in a little miniature town away from the rest of society, without TVs and the internet and other various luxuries, and without adults - is pretty genius.

Of course, saying that they were completely on their own without adults is a lie. There's the obnoxious host who shows up for the challenges and town hall meetings - both of which are adult designed. In fact, the kids may not have to follow specific rules about things like when to go to bed or when to do the dishes, but the whole structure of the show and their time in "Bonanza" is adult-manipulated and scheduled - from the basic organization of the town into districts with a town council to the reading of the "journal" that clues them in to what they should be doing (which usually is what the challenges revolve around too) for the next few days to the challenges that decide what "class" each "district" is (and in turn decides their jobs and their wages) to the ritual town hall meetings where they give away $20,000 (in the form of a solid gold star) to one deserving kid. And the rewards that the kids received for winning the challenges were always totally loaded and manipulative - like the episode where they had to pick between religious texts and a put-put course. I mean, the kids are smart enough to know that if they didn't pick the religious texts, the world would point fingers and say "look at what our children have become!" but I bet you a million dollars that the kids deep down inside really wanted that put-put course. And why shouldn't they? They're kids. They should enjoy their youth while they still can. They have the rest of their lives to figure out their spirituality.

But the best parts of the show were the parts that weren't so adult manipulated - like when kids would come up with ideas of their own to make things and sell them for money (yay for future entrepreneurs of the world) or when they would get in fights and make up an hour later because they realize that holding grudges just isn't worth it. These kids on this show were so mature sometimes, it was pretty impressive. Kids are much wiser than people give them credit for. My favorite quote of the whole season came from the finale when DK said something to affect of "As a leader, my decisions affect other people, not just me. I have to remember that there are other people out there." Our current administration could learn a thing or too from these kids. DK said it much better than that too and he's 14. I think he probably came out with the most wise quotes of any of the kids. But almost all of the kids had their moments of wise revelation. And I think "Kid Nation" shows us that kids are sometimes wiser than adults - or they see things more clearly - because they don't have so much baggage and stuff from life influencing their thoughts and actions and they haven't been influenced by society for as long. And all of the kids - even the most spoiled of brats at the beginning - grew and became better people by the end, and I think that just goes to show that part of the reason kids are like that in the first place is because of adults.

Overall, despite a rather excessive amount of manipulation (but it wouldn't be reality TV without it...) I think this show is probably one of the highest quality reality TV shows on the air. I laughed and I cried (a lot actually...) and I felt uplifted and maybe a little less afraid for the future of this country. I think if adults can watch it and reflect on the wisdom of these kids, we could all learn a few things. Plus I think it's just a really neat idea that no one else has really had the guts to tackle. I'm really glad that despite all the legal hullabaloo it looks as if there may be a Kid Nation 2 (applications were due back in October).

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