Is Reality TV Child Abuse?
Society
| August 22, 2007
| Tim
And should child-actor parents be held accountable?
The New York Times reports today about a "reality show [which] placed 40 children in an abandoned desert town":
Children who participated in “Kid Nation,” a CBS reality show that has come under fire over questions of whether it violated child safety and labor laws, were required to do whatever they were told by the show's producers, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or risk expulsion from the show, according to a copy of the contract signed by the children and their parents.
But wait, there's more:
But while such agreements might be standard for adult participants in a reality show, it also takes on a different tone when the minor and the parent are being held solely responsible for any “emotional distress, illness, sexually transmitted diseases, H.I.V. and pregnancy” that might occur if the child “chooses to enter into an intimate relationship of any nature with another participant or any other person.”
Eeew. We're talking ages 8 to 15 here.
Violating the confidentiality agreement carries a $5 million penalty. CBS and the production companies, Good TV Inc. and Magic Molehill Productions, retained the rights to the children’s life stories “in perpetuity and throughout the universe.” And that right includes the right to portray the children either accurately or with fictionalization “to achieve a humorous or satirical effect.”
What kind of parent puts their children in the hands of such people? One has to be amazingly trusting, or awfully desperate for fame and a chance at $25K.
I've seen the commercials for this show while I was watching Flight 29 Down (which is a "Lost" for kids and is quite good). I can barely watch the poor miserable kids during the commercial - much less bring myself to watch that show. I thought it was kind of a crummy premise to begin with, but this revelation brings it to the level of revolting.
The Running Man gets closer to reality every year :/
Wow. Is this an attempt to recreate the Lord of the Flies?
I'm going with unequivicably, yes, this is child abuse, simply because it's a mixture of neglect, stupidity and exploitation.
...or any other person.
Wow. That's just disgusting. Did they background screen their camera men properly?
Sadly the business is as it always was. It's a lot of parents living through their children. Thanks to the creation of trust funds the parents get to live off of a lot less of the money.
It seems to me that even though most of these parents claim that it's what their child wants, when it's really what the parent wants. Whether it's child abuse or not probably varies on a case by case basis.
I don't know if those parents are trusting or desperate, but I do think some of them are selfish. When you have kids you're supposed to act in their best interest. I just don't see that as happening in this case.
How many child actors have healthy relationships with their parents as adults? The answer to that might shed some light on this issue.
The Running Man gets closer to reality every year :/
Omigosh -- haven't thought of that for quite a while. If I remember, there was also some terrible simulated TV in Robocop which is probably also far too close to "reality" these days.
Thank heavens for HGTV.
Did they background screen their camera men properly?
Cameramen? I think it's the writers, and directors (more) you'd probably have worry more about.
How many child actors have healthy relationships with their parents as adults? The answer to that might shed some light on this issue.
I agree.
"in perpetuity and throughout the universe". Is that actually written into a contract? That sounds extremely creepy to me.
I thought so too, Linda. Sounds almost Faustian.
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I've seen the commercials for this show while I was watching Flight 29 Down (which is a "Lost" for kids and is quite good). I can barely watch the poor miserable kids during the commercial - much less bring myself to watch that show. I thought it was kind of a crummy premise to begin with, but this revelation brings it to the level of revolting.
The Running Man gets closer to reality every year :/
Posted by: Tracey on August 22, 2007 06:21 PM