Kid Nation

In 2007, CBS created a reality show called Kid Nation. In this show children, ages 8–15, competed against each other for a gold star worth $20,000. While doing so, they created their own society with their own form of government and were in charge of handling the day-to-day tasks of living. The show did not do well and was cancelled after one season amidst a lawsuit filed by one of the former child contestants (“Which Former Kid Nation Contestant is Suing CBS?,” Vulture, March 6, 2008, https://www.vulture.com/2008/03/which_kid_nation_contestant_is.html). The creation of the show speaks to something wrong about our society: that parents would think an eight-year-old child is capable of setting up a fully functioning society and would sit back and watch them do so. Yet how often do we as believing parents think that our children are capable of working out a fully functioning worldview that will shape important decisions for their rest of their lives? Part of our responsibility when it comes to our personal relationship with Jesus is that we are called to point them to Christ, not sit back and let them figure it out on their own.