Kids' Nation

Forty days without parents. A world run by kids and not adults. Wide open spaces and the clean air of New Mexico. An opportunity to become famous on television. What is not to like about CBS' upcoming reality show - Kids' Nation? First off, who made the decision to allow these children (ages nine to fifteen) to go to New Mexico, leave school, and have no contact with their families for almost six weeks? Even if the kids wanted to be involved there can be no doubt that parents hungering for fame and fortune pressured their children to accept the opportunity to be seen nationally on CBS. There is a growing army of parents who have taken their photogenic offspring and send them to every casting call for movies, TV shows, commercials, etc. The word gets out and parents drop everything, dragging their budding stars to crowded competitions for coveted air time exposure. Kids' Nation is the holy grail of televised stardom; a weekly show starring young talent. To compound the problems with the show was the decision of the producers to limit governmental access to the film site, ban parents, and "work" the young charges for up to sixteen hours each day. On the one hand CBS must be happy as all the pros and cons being argued through the media has raised awareness and is a free publicity campaign. On the other hand, if enough of a negative chorus should rise, the show might not see any time at all on the network and all that sacrifice that parents and children made will have come to naught.