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CBS Mistreated Child Actors on Set of New "Kid Nation" Reality Show

nytimes.com — After the production ended in mid-May, the parent of one child complained to state officials that the children's treatment bordered on abuse. Four children received medical treatment for accidentally drinking bleach, one child was burned on her face with hot grease while cooking, and most of the children were required to work 14 hours per day.

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  • openthink, on 10/10/2007, -7/+52so the kids were drinking bleach & getting hot grease all over their faces...no big deal. worst, most laughable, thing of this is cbs tries to defend "abuse" by saying, hey, but the kids weren't full-time employees? can't make that kind of stuff up. before end of day they'll be taking more responsibility (like removing the bleach bottles from the kids' buffet?)
    seriously, have worked with some of these shows....kids (all b-talent) are treated like crap. of course, another big question: why do their parents let them do this? for$5k? it only takes minutes of research to learn the kids are going to be running around w/little supervision, are going to be associating with a lot of hollywood fringe low-lifes, etc. if you want your kids "protected" don't send them to a garbage reality tv show--duh!
    • desmondregan, on 10/10/2007, -19/+2*****, prove that you worked on one of these shows.
      • VanillaStarfish, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I applaud the submitter calling these kids 'actors'. Which is all reality tv consists of.
        I still can't understand why my friends and even my wife can watch Big Brother or the ***** nanny show and exclaim, "I can't believe she did that!" People are so damn naive and I guess these networks realize the public is gullible as hell and make millions from them. It's sad.
        • YoctoYotta, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Exactly, a great man once said, "the only people I would want to see on a reality TV show are people that would never go on one in the first place."
    • 0ceanic, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5appearently, one parent did it for the potential law suits.
      "now jimmy, first time you see anything to clean the bathrooms, rip off the lable, drink it, and say it wasnt labled."

      though, shouldnt the entire town be child proof?
    • Frnnkdlxx, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1lol
    • Stonedonkey, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3Actually, no, that's not that way it works at all. Hollywood is pretty paranoid about mistreating children on set. If the actor is a minor, their parent or a legal guardian must be present at all times, and they can only work a few hours a day.

      I don't know what productions you were in involved in, but they did not represent the norm, and those people should probably be reported. You don't want to be associated with that, because it can come back to bite you in the ass, both professionally and legally.
  • tynansanger, on 10/10/2007, -9/+56Kill the producers! Cut their throats! Spill their blood!
    • ballsanya, on 10/10/2007, -2/+15the parent post would not have been dugg down if people here actually read classic literature. It was actually pretty clever.
    • 42Vindictive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+17Dugg for Lord of the Flies reference.
      • Treason, on 10/10/2007, -4/+0Beat me to it, kill the lardass!
      • kathaclysm, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So sad of me, first thing I thought was "isn't that from a Simpson's episode?" I couldn't remember if it was Kamp Krusty, or Das Bus. And yes; I've read Lord of the Flies too.
    • Frnnkdlxx, on 10/10/2007, -4/+1Jesus lady
    • Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'm more mad at the parents.
  • chubbybubba, on 10/10/2007, -9/+12These reality shows keep trying to get more and more outrageous. Just a matter of time before they start showing executions.
  • brianbb98, on 10/10/2007, -2/+25Now tell me... who thought this would be a good idea? Good TV? Yes. But I can think of a million bad things to happen..
    • Sairynn, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6The world would be a pretty boring place if no one ever did stupid *****.
  • smurf22, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16Who the hell drank the bleach?!
    • D3koy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+50In their defense it was in the fridge, marked "Probably not Milk, but only one way to find out"
    • brimtoast, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7"The parents of a 14-year-old boy, DK of Chicago, said Tuesday that their son was not seriously hurt and did not want to return home when he got sick from drinking bleach. DK was mixing drinks and picked up the wrong bottle, which was unmarked. Three other children sipped the liquid to try to determine what was making him sick, but they spit it out immediately. (CBS did not release participants' last names, nor those of their parents, to protect the children.)"

      From http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-kidnationweb22aug22,0,3170206.story?coll=la-home-entertainment
      • inigomntoya, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8"Mixing drinks"?! Like HI-C and kool-aid? Or Bloody Mary's and screwdrivers?
      • MarkOfTheDead, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4So the other two kids spit it out, but this asshat drank it? Sounds like the problem lies somewhere between conception of the child and the point at which "DK" enrolled in this "show"...

        I just hope someday I can sue someone else of the stupidity of my own kid.

        Oh, wait. No i don't I have class.

        That, and my kid wouldn't be ***** stupid enough to drink bleack marked or unmarked.

        What kills me is he didnt even smell it. if he would have his nose would have burned and this wouldn't have happened
    • coffeebot, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11when Napoleon tasted bleach in the milk, he got a medal. these kids deserve a medal
    • GoatMonkey2112, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4If it doesn't have Mr. Yuck on it, it must be OK to drink.
    • bigdumbanimal, on 10/10/2007, -2/+6*knock knock*
      [bleach kid] "Who's there?"
      [Charles] LOL "It's Darwin!"
  • desmondregan, on 10/10/2007, -2/+20thats ***** up, drinking bleach? why would there be bleach in a ghost-town?
    • kriminalintent, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Bleach keeps homeless away.
    • ohgr, on 10/10/2007, -0/+18Well the ghosts need their sheets white as possible you know
  • orca94, on 10/10/2007, -11/+5Surprise! Kids can't take care of themselves and trying to create a self-sufficient community of children on any level is asking for trouble.
    • sigintop, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Yeah, but at 8 years old don't you know NOT to drink bleach? Where do they find these kids?
      • Mothrog, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11"Where do they find these kids?"

        Well, you do have to consider that they found parents willing to ship their 8 year old off to be on a TV show where they'll be unsupervised. Those parents, and hence their children, probably aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer.
    • bobbyi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3To be fair, most adults can't really take care of themselves either.
  • ldmorris426, on 10/10/2007, -3/+16The show is a lawsuit waiting to happen
  • gcnaddict, on 10/10/2007, -2/+25I saw the ads for the show during Power of 10 tonight and I asked myself if the show was legal.

    I guess not.
  • desmondregan, on 10/10/2007, -4/+16I'm definitely watching this series in the fall.
  • twrife, on 10/10/2007, -5/+4That actually sounded like a good show.. in theory.
    Not in practice.
  • ianweir, on 10/10/2007, -3/+34What I fail to understand is how the children, who were on their own running their own community, could be 'required' to work 14-hour days. If they were on their own at the level implied, any such requirements would be imposed by the children themselves, and I highly doubt that the children would be allowed to enforce such requirements, no matter how 'hands-off' the producers of the show were.

    On another note, how on earth do you not notice that what you're about to drink is bleach? Any kid that stupid shouldn't be left home alone, nevermind dropped off in a ghost town to try and survive with other children.
    • MindStalker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4They weren't "working" 14-hour days. But by legal laws, any amount of time "on-set" is considered work. These kids were on-set whenever they weren't asleep. Therefor they were "working" all day.
      • MarkOfTheDead, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1*****, they go to sleep 10 hours?

        *****, when I was that age and the sun was up, my ass had better be up too, and doing some chores.
      • nicepants, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If it's a reality show, everywhere they go is the "set". Does being filmed = work? (Even if you're not acting)
        • Monk22, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2if your getting paid for it, its work.
  • Aviatrixt, on 10/10/2007, -1/+48I can't wait to see the pig's head on a stick.
  • ne0g, on 10/10/2007, -0/+27wait a second, kids got hurt on a show that mimics the concept of Lord of the Flies? we could have never seen this coming!
    seriously folks, the only people who would subject their children to something that looks torturous even in a CBS powerpoint (for five thousand dollars) are the only people (on this earth) who could be surprised when it ends badly
  • calebhawk, on 10/10/2007, -4/+8thats awesome, cant wait to watch it
  • iamanalog, on 10/10/2007, -8/+4I can tell you right now that the people who put their kids in this show are the waste of life retards who want their kids to get famous so they can stick a thumb up their ass and ride the waves. i personally cant wait for the show to come out and see what kind of ***** up ***** is going on. Should be ***** hilarious.
  • saegiru, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15In the words of Nelson Muntz: "HAAA HAAA!"
    • Fluffiness, on 10/10/2007, -3/+0Dugg for you knowing his last name.
  • ne0g, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xTJ6GoBuCU (i almost forgot about that)
    • mtalon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Awesome! I'm glad I'm not the only one who remembered that bit. When they did it, all I could think was "it's only a matter of time...". What kills me is how many of the marks were ready to ship their kids off. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
    • TheCaterpillar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Wow, nice post
  • JAXXXON, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Hahahaha, definitely going to watch this show.
  • ThatGeek, on 10/10/2007, -3/+4wow...who da thunk it? Kids can't take care of themselves! maybe thats why parents exist. Now, kids shouldnt be stupid enough to drink bleach, but still, they are kids and shouldnt be expected to take care of themselves.
  • Schwab, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7Oh yeah, now the parents that whored their kids out to yet another ***** reality show are complaining. Geez, you have to love us here in America.
    • allisonaxe, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1i bet its the kids that lost whose parents are suing.
  • glamdr1ng, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6I can guarantee kids back in the day(myself included) did things much worse than these kids did in some silly 'ghost town'. Over-protective parents and whiny kids in my opinion. Fact: kids are dumb, kids do silly things. Might as well video tape and make money off it. Good Lord, I wish I had video of some stunts I did. Send that off to AFV and get $10k.
  • shyner, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Here's a good idea.. don't put your ***** kids in a ghost town with other kids and minimal supervision! Seriously, you should have to take a parenting test before you procreate.
  • otep, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2IM IN UR SHOWZ ABUSN UR KIDZ

    ...
  • VeniceCA, on 10/10/2007, -4/+11Kid Digg Nation scheduled for next season. Kids run social media site, drink bleach, and post only Nintendo related topics.
    • mrminty, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3And 40% of them can't keep their lips off of Steve Job's *****.
      • MarkOfTheDead, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Hi, I'm Chris Hanson.

        Why don't you have a seat?
  • heynow21, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3In fairness to CBS this show is plan B. Their original idea was called "Michael Vick's Dogfighting Championship" but that was too controversial in the end so their executives went the safe route and rounded up a bunch of kids and left them in the desert.
    • blooboy, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1i wish i could give you more than one digg
  • nycmac247, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3who in the ***** watches TV anymore?
    why? give it up, already - believe me, you'll like it.
    • Mothrog, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4You do realize no one gives a ***** that you don't watch TV, right?
      • nycmac247, on 10/10/2007, -5/+1Would you be willing to say
        "You know, I've thought about quitting TV, too, but never get around to it. Starting today I think I'll just try to go 24 hours without watching TV to see what it does to my mind - thanks for the post and wish me luck. After its over I might still like tv but at least I'll be making it a choice rather than just falling into it like a fat person that must eat every time they pass the fridge."
        • Mearn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1No
        • Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1So if I watch Discovery Channel every now and then, I'm only going to become dumber and fatter?
      • bcope16, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1LOL --- ok, so your comments just show me that I should watch tv. Just cause you're too broke to afford cable, don't try to make it out like it's your choice. That's just funny.
  • justdbc, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3The central premise of every reality TV show that I have seen is psycological manipulation. The contestants are expected to manipulate each other. The producers, unfortunately for the contestants, hold all the high cards and their job #1 is to psycologically manipulate the contestants. I'm amazed that the critical thinking skills of the general population have sunk to such a level that: a) anyone would sign up to go on one of these dignity-erasing escapades, and 2) why anyone would enjoy watching people discard their dignity out of sheer greed and brainlessness.

    And you have to be brainless to think you can beat the producers at their own game. The whole thing is transparently artificial.

    In this case, the parents are the ones who should be jailed for abuse -- leaving their children in the hands of known, experienced, abusive manipulators.
  • RyeBrye, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Maybe the parents should be prosecuted for child abuse for subjecting the kids to a reality show in the first place.
    • bcope16, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1YES YES YES YES --- Any parent dumb enough to either fall for whatever the producer's were selling, or just didn't care and thought it was cool to put their child's life on the line for 5K, does NOT deserve to have kids. I wonder if any of the producers have kids, and I wonder if they would have let them on the show?

      The darwin principle in effect... Unfortunately for the children, they are being raised by the chimps.
  • nomechingues, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1cant whayt to watch these show sounds great actually
  • IbuddhaI, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Both CBS and the parents of these children should be shot.
    I mean it is not like the children decided to go onto the show all alone.
    • thashiz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Violence solves everything.
      • VanillaStarfish, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1They're not on the show all alone. There's a whole ***** crew behind the camera, *****. The dude operating the camera is an adult as well.
        You only believe what you see. REALITY TV IS FAKE!!
  • bluebirdgm, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I just can't imagine it being a fun show without explosive collars and randomly-assigned weapons.
    • mrboratsagdiev, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Battle Royale reference +1
      • Aleister76, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Then the children retaliate against the adults like in Battle Royale 2.
    • alexhouse, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Battle Royale? dugg.
  • MDrake, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Stupid ass kids!
    • bcope16, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1why are the kids stupid? they are in fact... KIDS. ignorant maybe, but stupid? Now, i'm sure they inherited some of the stupidity from their parents, but let's wait and see... We should know by episode 3.
  • chroto, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4i guess the producers never read lord of the flies
    • bcope16, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Oh, I'm sure they did. I can already see the meeting they had.

      BOB!! THIS IS GREAT!! A real life lord of the flies! But, man, I bet we can't get parents to fall for it, or the execs to pick up the show if we named it that.
  • drmobutu, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I heard there was this one kid, who kept complaining about the food, and after, like, two weeks, he totally disappeared...
    • isuisorisuaint, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1this one time, in bandcamp....
  • clafleche, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0they should instead take the foolish parents that signed their kids up for this and see if they can govern themselves.
  • Onyxblaze, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2TV is not even worth watching these days. I was watching Killpoint on spike today. I had 3 minutes of commercials every 5 minutes. That was two scenes from the show per five commercials, and it was the same commercials over and over again. Give me a break.
  • Eldorian, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4If the parents win a lawsuit against CBS for this... then the parents should in turn be jailed for child abuse in knowingly letting CBS do this to their kids.
  • kriminalintent, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3How can a whole company abuse a kid? Headline should say producers.
  • HumanRecall, on 10/10/2007, -2/+240 children, ages 8 to 15 -forced to work 14 hr days !!! Dam Skippy thats abuse last i checked thats called Child SLAVE LABOR !!!

    Drinking Bleach WTF !!! Getting burned !! WHO THE HELL IS SUPERVISING THESE KIDS ?

    SATAN ?
  • monkiboi, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I can't wait to see this show.
    As far as the "child actors" drinking bleach...like all good child actors, they should be snorting stuff far worse very shortly.
  • truman48, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Didn't we all drink bleach at some point in our lives?
  • mctoosh, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0Obviously these kids have failed at their task.
  • heystoopid, on 10/10/2007, -4/+0So now we know that CBS is now just another clone of the Fox Network where they prefer fiction and propaganda to the real truth !
    • akkibaba, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Fox News sucks thunderous amounts of ass,but Fox itself has taken gambles on quality shows like Firefly, Simpsons, Futurama, Arrested Development, etc
  • mrminty, on 10/10/2007, -4/+2Finally, a reality show that's finally watchable.
    It brings a smile to my face, knowing that a child was harmed.
  • mukiex, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4All this Bleach and not a single kid attains bankai?! What a rip.
  • Economist35, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I guess the kids didn't develop labor laws in their society
  • GunsGermsSteel, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4"The show, "Kid Nation," which is scheduled to premiere on CBS on Sept. 19, is a reality show whose premise is to take 40 children, ages 8 to 15, and place them in a "ghost town" in New Mexico to see if they can build a working society without the help of adults."

    I guess the answer was "No. No they could not."
  • andrewcool, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Why settle in New Mexico. Most Civilizations started near a water source, like a river, or ocean.
  • lightningrod220, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1There *is* one good thing that can result from this: the end of reality TV forever!


    ... hey, a guy can dream.
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