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.