Kid Nation Parents Signed Away Right to Sue

Parents of the children who participated on the controversial CBS reality show, Kid Nation may be bitching and moaning now, likening the treatment of the children to a form of abuse, but because of the liability waivers they signed, complaining is their only recourse.

The waiver, which can be read on TheSmokingGun.com, says that the parents of the children could not sue CBS if their child died, was severely injured, or caught a sexually transmitted disease while filming Kid Nation.

Also, according to The Smoking Gun:

they “…gave consent to CBS and its production partners to make medical treatment decisions on the minor’s behalf (including surgery), though the network made no promises about the “qualifications or credentials” of medical professionals that might treat the stars of “Kid Nation,” which was originally titled “The Manhattan Project.”

So, what are we supposed to think about this new piece of information? That CBS and the producers of Kid Nation are a bunch of evil manipulators? Maybe there was some manipulation, but the blame for this whole situation that we have been hearing about for the past two months is not the fault of the network.

Someone came up with the treatment for this show, CBS said, “let’s do it,” and they found the parents who would gladly allow their kids to do it. Let’s not forget; these kids got paid, it was not summer camp. And frankly, the media started to complain about the premise of Kid Nation long before the parents started their accusations of “abuse” last week.

It seems to me that there was so much of a stink about the show, that some people did not want to align themselves with the network, and decided to play the innocent victim role. Now that the media is investigating the parents’ accusations, the blanket liability waiver has become a matter of public record. Look Mom and Dad, you knew what you were doing when you signed that contract. Don’t act like you weren’t pimping your kids because now you are afraid of what people will think of you as a parent once the show airs.

At the end of the day, if people watch Kid Nation and think it is a horrendous spectacle of child exploitation that may have emotionally damaged some kids, the blame starts with the showbiz parents and trickles down to the viewers who do not demand more quality in their programming.

I’m sure I will have more to say about this in the coming weeks. If you have something to say about it, leave a comment.

To read the waiver,
Click here.

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