“Let Me Count the Ways…”
CBS and the Conspiracy behind “Kid Nation”
Paul Petersen

I confess that I am cross-eyed with anger as I write this perspective on “Kid Nation.” This is an improvement over the apoplexy I suffered when I first learned of this misbegotten project some months ago. I’m better now. I’ve little doubt this will be just the start of a lengthy dialogue. I hope you stick around, but for those of you short of time, here’s the number one thing that ought to happen in advance of this show’s premiere: The CBS ‘Permit to Employ Minors’ should be immediately suspended in California and New York and an administrative hearing held to determine if anyone at CBS should be allowed to be in contact with children, let alone employ them.

Tom Forman, the Producer of “Kid Nation” and leader of this corporate conspiracy, says this about the kids from several states, ages 8-15, he paid $5,000.00, and whose parents were made to sign confidentiality agreements. “We’re not going to call them actors.”

Mr. Forman, you see, does not consider work on a reality show to be “labor.” I wonder if he told the crew they weren’t really working.

At these proposed Department of Labor hearings I’d like the alleged “army of lawyers” that consulted on this project to show me the language in any state, particularly New Mexico where “Kid Nation” was filmed over 40 days and nights, that gives anyone the right to waive mandatory educational requirements. “Kid Nation” was taped in the middle of a school year. Can you spell t-r-u-a-n-c-y?

Mr. Forman, quoted in USA Today (July 19, 2007) says, “There was a large adult safety net” standing by in case of violence, ala “Lord of the Flies.” Oh really? Who, exactly, was standing by this so-called “summer camp” when all the publicity says the piece was done without adult interference? What are the credentials of this so-called adult safety net? What were they paid and who paid them?

In fact, if this was really a “camp” as the producer alleges, who did the background and fingerprint checks of the production team? The laws for “camps” for children are pretty strict in every jurisdiction I know.

I’m trying to find out whom in authority signed off on this production. What person in the New Mexico Film Commission’s office thought it would be a good idea to bring money into the state under these conditions? I want to know who, exactly, was consulted in the New Mexico Department of Labor and Department of Education. Were they told the truth about the absence of supervision, or are we all being victimized by a well-crafted publicity campaign riding on the backs of 40 innocent children?

State Child Welfare agencies located in the home districts of these children ought to be holding hearings, too. At a minimum the parents of these children…remember, the stars of this production ranged in age from 8 to 15…ought to be questioned on the issue of child neglect. Who told these parents they had the “right” to abandon their children, for any amount of cash, to a bunch of Hollywood-types?

Those few parents who are having second thoughts about the ‘so-called’ confidentiality agreements need to know that any such agreement based on this kind of illegal if not criminal conduct, is totally unenforceable. Moreover, if they want redemption, they should immediately “disavow” the contracts, because their kids certainly can the moment they turn Eighteen. If you did this for money, Parents, consider what it would be like to own a good chunk of CBS, for that’s the potential prize.

I promised myself I’d keep to the One Page format, so I will close this chapter by returning to Mr. Forman’s words concerning the children employed on “Kid Nation:” “We’re not going to call them actors.”

You’re right, Mr. Forman. They’re not actors. They are victims.

Paul Petersen, July 19, 2007