Can We Get Some Parenting, Please?

The current controversy over Kids Nation, a reality show for CBS, strikes me as just the latest way that parents in this country are forgetting what their job is. The show takes 40 kids and puts them on their own in the "wild west," taping them as they survive. I've seen promos for the show and it struck me as a reality show-slash-social experiment setting out to answer the question of whether the kids would cohabitate in a peacefulness that would make adults ashamed or whether a Lord of the Flies scenario would break out. Personally, I was planning to watch it. Of course, I questioned the ethics of such a show, but come on - I watch a lot of reality tv - why draw the line there? I also know that reality tv is nowhere close to reality.

So now, conveniently not long before the show is set to premiere, some of the parents of the children involved are crying foul. They're claiming that their children were mistreated and/or neglected by the producers. Wait a minute - who really exploited these children? I really believe that it was the parents that wanted their kids to have a shot at fame and money and signed an extensive release to allow them to do so. This was not a show in which participants felt that they signed up for one thing and then got blindsided by their partner admitting to an affair or something. No, the contracts required by CBS were extensive and covered many possible scenarios in extreme detail. Now, if the parents didn't read it - stupid. If they did read it - well, maybe that was stupid too. Regardless, it wasn't CBS' fault. The producers were doing their job - create a new show that would provide some sensationalism and cover the networks' ass in the process. Let's place the responsibility for whatever situations the children were put in on the correct shoulders.

All in the Family

This season of Big Brother has had its ups and downs, and overall has been amongst the more enjoyable of the past years. My only real problem with it is the twist of the people with previous relationships. In the last permutation of this, each person came into the house with a "partner." Each pair thought that they were the only one, but in reality, every house guest came into the game on a level playing field. That just wasn't true this year. First of all, only six house guests had previous relationships with others, and those relationships were extremely different.



The first pair, Jessica and Carol, were so-called high school rivals. They were friends at some point in the distant past, then got into some predictable girl fight and stopped speaking. So what? Neither of them has a stake in what the other thinks or how the other performs. True, they both wanted the other out, but due to pride more than due to the effect that the other would have on the game. As it turned out, Carol was the first to leave the game anyway. Jessica was happy, yes, but I really question whether Carol staying would have been all that problematic for her.



Joe and Dustin were ex-boyfriends who broke up because Joe cheated. They hated each other bitterly, so they each had an easy target coming in. Now, this was a bit more problematic because they each had a person that was after them. The axe fell on Joe first because he was more obviously smarmy than Dustin was, but I believe that Joe would have cut his own throat pretty easily without Dustin speaking up against him. Joe loved stirring the pot, and he didn't believe in subtlety.



The last pair is where I think the producers went too far. Dick and Daniele are an estranged father and daughter. The details of their split have only been vaguely revealed - Daniele's brother (Dick's son) said that Dick lent Daniele money and when she couldn't (or didn't) pay it on time, he didn't deal with it well. That's wide open to interpretation, but whatever happened, it was big enough to cause Daniele to stop speaking to her father for many years. Then, the two of them showed up in the BB house and were faced with each other. Immediately, they had a person that could not really be an enemy but would be a difficult ally. They are completely connected, which has proven to be both good and bad. Dick's behavior is outrageous and ends up reflecting on Daniele. Daniele is often immature, but she is also dealing with a lot more emotionally than the other house guests. At this point, the relationship seems to be working for them, but I think that's immaterial. I don't like what BB did. It put the players on different playing fields. I really do hope that their relationship continues outside of the house and I would also like to see them go far in the game, but I just can't feel good about the way that they got back together.