Kid Nation

I am not sure if any of you are aware of the recent media phenomenon "Kid Nation," but I have a few things to say about it.

To provide you with some background, Kid Nation is a television program on CBS that follows a group of forty kids on a journey to create their own city, free of adults. The kids, aged eight to fifteen, were shuttled out to the Midwestern town of Bonanza City, a city that apparently failed under the leadership of its former adult rulers. The posse of kids have forty days to prove that they can overcome many challenges and run a healthy and flourishing city on their own.

Each episode is set up in the following way: first, there is a recap of what happened during the last episode; secondly, a new central problem is introduced. On one episode, drama broke out over whether or not to kill the neighboring chickens for food. The following week, the kids dealt with how to proceed with a religious service. After the issue is explored, there is a manufactured challenge the kids have to complete in order to win a "handsome reward." For example, one time they had to choose between a microwave or a pizza party. (They, or rather the council, chose the microwave.) At the end of each episode, the coveted gold star, worth $20,000 is awarded to the child who has worked the hardest during the "town meeting".

But, there is more to the show than just the basics. First of all, there is the council -- four kids chosen by the producers of the show based on their leadership ability. These four rule each of the four districts (red, yellow, green and blue). They also make the final decisions regarding who gets the gold star and which prize they will accept.

I could go on, believe me, but this is not the point. The point is that among all the over-produced, marketable moments shine truth and the goodness of children.

Take the example of a little eight year old girl from Indiana. She wanted to go home, especially after some of the chickens are killed for food. Although her older sister is also in Bonanza City with her, she misses her family. When the rest of the kids discover that this little girl is thinking about going home (an option presented to each child each week), they band together to support her, eventually awarding her the gold star.

On the episode with controversy over whether to have separate religious services or one service for all religions, one little boy goes above and beyond the council and the older kids when he takes a survey of all the religions present in Bonanza City.

I fell into watching this show for the first time because of the kids themselves. I continue to watch it now because of the psychological and developmental undertones that become apparent to me as I watch.

I guess what I'm saying is that it still never ceases to amaze me that the true essence of children shines through everything, even an over-hyped, highly-structured, over-produced, media-created mishmash of controversy.