Surprise!
Okay, I'll admit it: I've been watching Kid Nation. I was intrigued by the pre-season commercials, which promised that the kids would build their own town, free of adults.
Instead, there has been much adult meddling and influence in the shaping of the town--but little adult presence when kids have been crying, scared, homesick, in danger, and etc. When a storm popped up that toppled the outhouses, the kids had to right the outhouses themselves, as well as shelter themselves. I realize that this would fall under the heading of "no adult influence," and while it's a little creepy, I might be 'okay' with that if it weren't for the fact that the adult designers of the show have surreptitiously designed the town by leaving thinly veiled instructions in a 'diary' that was 'leftover' from some supposed settlers who said their attempt at building the town failed. The show's designers created mini-capitalism, complete with total competition and little cooperation.
To date: the kids came together, then were instructed to divide into four teams (red, blue, green and yellow). The teams compete against each other every show to determine which team is Upper Class, Merchants, Cooks, and Laborers--complete with descending pay scale: $1.00, $.50, $.25, and $.10, respectively. The Upper Class have no assigned chores but have the 'freedom' to help the other classes. The Merchants mind the stores, the Cooks cook and do dishes, and the Laborers haul water, clean latrines, and etc. None of this was the kids' idea--in fact, before the split into teams, the kids were all pretty much working together to cook, do dishes, haul water, and whatever else needed to be done. Who knows what would've become of them? We might have actually gotten to see what kind of system the kids developed, if it weren't for the adults who meddled when they shouldn't have, but didn't when they should have.
From the beginning, 4 kids have been the 'council' members, and each one became the leader of one of the teams, by default. My husband and I suspect that these kids were picked because of their willingness to follow even veiled orders, because they haven't done much to buck the system.
Until last night.
Last night's show had a theme--religion. My husband and I were pretty afraid about this--given how the show's designers have handled things thus far, it didn't seem like this could possibly have a good ending. And, insofar as what the adults designed, the ending wasn't good. The council members were 'told,' via the 'diary,' that they needed to bring religion to Bonanza City (in the previous show, they'd been 'told' that BC needed laws, one of which should be a curfew). ~_~ And they were 'told' that they should choose to either have everyone split up into separate services for their own religions, or that they should hold one community service. And, being tractable, these kids stood up to announce that they were going to hold one community service. At least as far as what the 'diary' was allowing them, I think they were making the right choice...but I also think that they could've thought outside the box and offered a community service as well as separate services. But they didn't. Predictably, many of the kids were upset--some were so zealously a part of their own religion that they didn't want to be 'tainted' by others' religions, while others were appalled at the first group's reactions. End result: no one showed up for the community service 'organized' by the council.
However, during that day, one of the very young children went around taking a poll of who was a part of which religion. His list was amazingly detailed--I believe he's 8 or 9 years old, but the list included Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Orthodox or Reformed Jews, and etc. It wasn't your standard "Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Other" list. He even had a category for "Atheist" separate from "Other." !! I have no idea how he came up with that list, but it was pretty good. I was impressed.
That night, one of the older girls went around to the various bunkhouses, letting people know that she and some of the other kids had a bonfire going and that they were going to hold a voluntary prayer service--anyone who wanted to attend could do so, but there was no pressure on anyone to come. On the way to the bonfire, one of the younger kids asked if she would ask another child to say a Jewish prayer. It was beautiful. Kids of all stripes came together to pray; some cried; all were hushed when Zach (the Jewish boy) said his prayer; no one heckled anyone else.
The next day was "challenge day." Each week, the kids not only compete to see who gets which class, but also race against a clock as a whole group--if all the groups finish the challenge before the timer runs out, they get to choose between two prizes--one that is instant gratification, and one that has more practical merit (and why the first teams to finish don't help the other teams so that they can be assured of getting the bonus prize, I'm not sure--we think they may have been told they can't help). So far, at the end of each show, the adult leader/emcee has told the council to "take a walk" post-challenge to decide which of these two prizes to accept, and so far, the council has done so.
Until last night (it was a night of surprises on this show). The emcee guy said, "Council, take a walk!" The council members, almost in unison, said, "No!" The emcee couldn't have looked more shocked at this sign of rebellion. The council members then said, "Everyone was upset when we picked the microwave over the pizza last time," (they've consistently picked the practical prize over the immediate-gratification one), "so we're going to take a vote this time." Their prize choice: a miniature golf course in the middle of the town, or a set of holy books and desks. And, by a sweeping majority, the kids voted to accept the holy books and desks.
That, too, was a pleasant surprise.
Throughout the show, we were bombarded with shows of religious intolerance--kids banding together in "Christianity rules" or "Judaism rocks" clubs and telling each other that their religion is better than the other, for example. However, we also saw some genuinely touching moments. For example, one of the kids is Hindu; as he was outside praying, a couple of girls asked him about his religion, and then joined him in his prayer ritual. In another instance, kids grouped together to talk about learning and growing as people by learning about other religions. And Sophia, one of the shining lights of the show, talked about how, at 14 years old, she's in the middle of a religious crisis; that in itself is amazing, but it's even more amazing that she recognizes it for what it is.
Next week is supposed to be 'election' week. My husband and I doubt that many, if any, of the original council members will stay up there. We know for sure that Taylor is out--no one is happy with her, except for her flock of 5 or 6 girls. Other than that, I'm wondering if this episode will be messy, or if the kids will find a way around the guidelines the not-so-helpful adults have laid out for them.
Peace and love.
Instead, there has been much adult meddling and influence in the shaping of the town--but little adult presence when kids have been crying, scared, homesick, in danger, and etc. When a storm popped up that toppled the outhouses, the kids had to right the outhouses themselves, as well as shelter themselves. I realize that this would fall under the heading of "no adult influence," and while it's a little creepy, I might be 'okay' with that if it weren't for the fact that the adult designers of the show have surreptitiously designed the town by leaving thinly veiled instructions in a 'diary' that was 'leftover' from some supposed settlers who said their attempt at building the town failed. The show's designers created mini-capitalism, complete with total competition and little cooperation.
To date: the kids came together, then were instructed to divide into four teams (red, blue, green and yellow). The teams compete against each other every show to determine which team is Upper Class, Merchants, Cooks, and Laborers--complete with descending pay scale: $1.00, $.50, $.25, and $.10, respectively. The Upper Class have no assigned chores but have the 'freedom' to help the other classes. The Merchants mind the stores, the Cooks cook and do dishes, and the Laborers haul water, clean latrines, and etc. None of this was the kids' idea--in fact, before the split into teams, the kids were all pretty much working together to cook, do dishes, haul water, and whatever else needed to be done. Who knows what would've become of them? We might have actually gotten to see what kind of system the kids developed, if it weren't for the adults who meddled when they shouldn't have, but didn't when they should have.
From the beginning, 4 kids have been the 'council' members, and each one became the leader of one of the teams, by default. My husband and I suspect that these kids were picked because of their willingness to follow even veiled orders, because they haven't done much to buck the system.
Until last night.
Last night's show had a theme--religion. My husband and I were pretty afraid about this--given how the show's designers have handled things thus far, it didn't seem like this could possibly have a good ending. And, insofar as what the adults designed, the ending wasn't good. The council members were 'told,' via the 'diary,' that they needed to bring religion to Bonanza City (in the previous show, they'd been 'told' that BC needed laws, one of which should be a curfew). ~_~ And they were 'told' that they should choose to either have everyone split up into separate services for their own religions, or that they should hold one community service. And, being tractable, these kids stood up to announce that they were going to hold one community service. At least as far as what the 'diary' was allowing them, I think they were making the right choice...but I also think that they could've thought outside the box and offered a community service as well as separate services. But they didn't. Predictably, many of the kids were upset--some were so zealously a part of their own religion that they didn't want to be 'tainted' by others' religions, while others were appalled at the first group's reactions. End result: no one showed up for the community service 'organized' by the council.
However, during that day, one of the very young children went around taking a poll of who was a part of which religion. His list was amazingly detailed--I believe he's 8 or 9 years old, but the list included Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Orthodox or Reformed Jews, and etc. It wasn't your standard "Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Other" list. He even had a category for "Atheist" separate from "Other." !! I have no idea how he came up with that list, but it was pretty good. I was impressed.
That night, one of the older girls went around to the various bunkhouses, letting people know that she and some of the other kids had a bonfire going and that they were going to hold a voluntary prayer service--anyone who wanted to attend could do so, but there was no pressure on anyone to come. On the way to the bonfire, one of the younger kids asked if she would ask another child to say a Jewish prayer. It was beautiful. Kids of all stripes came together to pray; some cried; all were hushed when Zach (the Jewish boy) said his prayer; no one heckled anyone else.
The next day was "challenge day." Each week, the kids not only compete to see who gets which class, but also race against a clock as a whole group--if all the groups finish the challenge before the timer runs out, they get to choose between two prizes--one that is instant gratification, and one that has more practical merit (and why the first teams to finish don't help the other teams so that they can be assured of getting the bonus prize, I'm not sure--we think they may have been told they can't help). So far, at the end of each show, the adult leader/emcee has told the council to "take a walk" post-challenge to decide which of these two prizes to accept, and so far, the council has done so.
Until last night (it was a night of surprises on this show). The emcee guy said, "Council, take a walk!" The council members, almost in unison, said, "No!" The emcee couldn't have looked more shocked at this sign of rebellion. The council members then said, "Everyone was upset when we picked the microwave over the pizza last time," (they've consistently picked the practical prize over the immediate-gratification one), "so we're going to take a vote this time." Their prize choice: a miniature golf course in the middle of the town, or a set of holy books and desks. And, by a sweeping majority, the kids voted to accept the holy books and desks.
That, too, was a pleasant surprise.
Throughout the show, we were bombarded with shows of religious intolerance--kids banding together in "Christianity rules" or "Judaism rocks" clubs and telling each other that their religion is better than the other, for example. However, we also saw some genuinely touching moments. For example, one of the kids is Hindu; as he was outside praying, a couple of girls asked him about his religion, and then joined him in his prayer ritual. In another instance, kids grouped together to talk about learning and growing as people by learning about other religions. And Sophia, one of the shining lights of the show, talked about how, at 14 years old, she's in the middle of a religious crisis; that in itself is amazing, but it's even more amazing that she recognizes it for what it is.
Next week is supposed to be 'election' week. My husband and I doubt that many, if any, of the original council members will stay up there. We know for sure that Taylor is out--no one is happy with her, except for her flock of 5 or 6 girls. Other than that, I'm wondering if this episode will be messy, or if the kids will find a way around the guidelines the not-so-helpful adults have laid out for them.
Peace and love.