CBS' Kid Nation has been this season's lightning rod of controversy. Even before the first episode aired just over a week ago, the mom-and-pop-less reality show featuring kids creating their own society was the target of many groups, most of which deemed the show a televised version of child abuse and in violation of child-labor laws.
However, the latest group to voice displeasure with the show isn't worried about the kids. Last Chance for Animals (LCA), an animal-rights organization, is criticizing CBS for "staging the killing of a chicken for entertainment."
The said chickens came under the axe of Greg, the oldest member of the group, who has experience killing things and cooking them from previously working with a butcher. On the CBS Web site, the network recaps the episode as follows: "The Kids come closer to the realities of the food pyramid when they realize they'll have to kill town livestock if they want protein in their food. Greg assumes the leadership role as the Town kills chickens for protein."
LCA president Chris DeRose challenges the idea, saying, "CBS made a determined effort to argue, both on the television show and on its website, that killing animals is necessary to get protein to eat. Virtually every scientific study says that's false. Millions of vegetarians and vegans get plenty of protein from non-animal sources, and overall they're healthier than meat-eaters."
Thanks to a fake, "ancient" settlers journal (which advises the children on how to act and helps move the show along), the episode immediately launches into the question of "to kill or not to kill" the 18 chickens that are in town. In the first episode, the children ate pasta.
Although CBS kept the cameras off of the actual fowl beheadings, the lenses were solely focused on Greg delivering the strike. One unhappy camper said, "I can't believe we're going to do this."
LCA wasn't alone in its protest. A small group of young animal huggers disagreed with the idea and momentarily locked themselves in the coop. Finally, the protesters were convinced that this was the right decision for the group, and they grudgingly acquiesced.
DeRose went on to say, "The more pressing issue is whether the killing of animals can ever be staged purely for entertainment, as it was on Kid Nation. We find that entirely unacceptable. And YouTube has magnified the problem by allowing the video to be posted on its website. As with CBS, YouTube is using animal suffering for entertainment and profit."
CBS has not yet commented on the issue.
As of press time, a video of the chicken killing was available on YouTube, but only from an amateur recording of a user filming the show off a television with a camcorder. The full video of the Kid Nation episode in question is available online at CBS.com.
Okay I'm a vegetarian and you people who say "spare the chickens eat the vegetarians" you guys have to understand we're people too. You can't go around saying stuff like that. I'm a promoter of LCA and I do understand that this is what happens everyday. We're just angry that they'd make a kid kill a living being it just makes me sad that you would say stuff like that.
thats not how you make chicken!!!!
lol jok but yeah sure everyone has a point if they dont kill the chickens then what are they doing to the eggs??!!! EATING THEM... meh people these days..... but i want to know how to get on the show i think the kids need a helper!! n maybe someone that can cook a bit better coz they wouldn't no anything about OHNS. i would love to help just one thing... if you want me i live in Australia!! comment me back.
its survival deal with it
I have to be honest here. I do understand how people feel about animal cruelty, however.... Some people prefer to eat meat, and that is there personal right. Therefore if it requires killing an animal in which their particular culture eats, they should not be criticized. Just as it is the right for vegetarians to eat alternative forms of protein. I could see calling this killing of chickens animal cruelty if the children had killed them just for pleasure to watch them run around with their heads cut off and then proceed to put them in the trash. However, they did not do this. In fact they were very civilized about it (considering they are “living†in the “old timesâ€). Secondly, for adults to be cracking jokes about children who have decide to participate (with their parents consent), in an amazing adventure, is JUST WRONG! These kids have more strength, and courage than anyone sitting behind their computer (or working at their cozy job), will ever have. I’m mean come on…. 40 days alone (and many of them for the first time in their lives. This show is an opportunity for the children to prove that they can work hard, have fun, and live with other people from different cultures, socioeconomic status, and beliefs. I do not see in any way how this is child labor. I think that society is forgetting that children have the ability to work and do chores, instead of have everything handed to them. Oh must I also mention again that they and their parents consent to participate.moreless
how to get on the next kid nation
It is mere fact, that, in this world, whether you are plant or animal, the law is: Eat or be eaten.
Animal rights organizations piss me off!
While I like chicken as much as the next guy I have to say that they really didn't need to air a 15 year old killing one on national TV. Also, it would have been funnier having the kids be forced to eat as vegetarians.
I hate it when vegetarian says they are healthier then meat eater cause they don't eat meat...They just don't mention that vegetarians usually don't eat fast food and other kind of fat filled junk...
<b>Q</b>: Why did the chicken cross the road?
<b>A</b>: To get away from Greg.
how did people think the chickens at the supermarket got there anyway!!! from farm to slaughterhouse to store.........
"Millions of vegetarians and vegans get plenty of protein from non-animal sources, and overall they're healthier than meat-eaters." HA! Yeah, I'm sure. Thats why they're all stick thin. :roll: This is the most ridiculous TV protest I've ever heard! The purpose of a chicken is to be eaten - nothing else. If no one ate chickens, then they would over populate the earth and we'd be running them over with our cars anyway (well, you get my point). I guess this is what the world is coming to...
They better keep an eye on the kid with the axe - he reminds me of Malachi from CHILDREN OF THE CORN.
Frank P is smiling down on Kid Nation.
They act like chickens are not killed daily.
actually SoylentYellow, it's not a myth at all. it depends on how far up/down you cut off their head from the neck. I've seen chickens that have run around for almost 3 minutes, and I've even seen them run around clucking (way crazy!) On a more relevant note, it's not like they were given the task of slaughtering a Snowy Owl, or a Dolphin or something...no chicken shortage that I've heard about!
So basically,they value the lives of chickens over humans???HOW ELSE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO GET PROTEIN!?!?!?VEGETABLES!?!?!OH YEAH,THEY ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT!!!!!!!!!
Animal rights groups just make fools of themselves.:P
On E's THE SOUP Joel McHale made a joke about KID NATION being CHILDREN OF THE CORN. It was hilarious but at the same time a very disturbing and very appropriate. I guess it dispelled the myth about the chicken running around with its head cut off - all it did was flop around a bit. How many kids ended up eating the chickens? How far would 2 chickens go among 40 kids? Was this like the loaves and fishes in the bible? If they needed a source of protein they could have just chowed down on some nice SOYLENT GREEN!
While I applaud the producers for their ingenuity for getting around those pesky child labor laws, I still think that this is yet another reality show that should have never made it to air.
could have been better to make a reality show like the condemned kids.
Maybe they could have offered the kids a protein source that didn't involve killing chickens. But, I think that a group predominantly comprised of meat eaters would have picked the chicken anyhow.So that leaves killing the chicken on camera. LCA can go jump off a cliff because the kids actually ate the chicken. And all the parents that are screaming about their kids being exposed to killing a chicken can go right behind them for preferring to coddle their kids instead of teaching them a truth that most kids who live in farming communities have seen since birth.
to borrow a line from South Park... "Wow! Those are some pissed off turkeys!"... except, they're chickens!Supermarket bought chicken-nugget chickens and the Kentucky Fried sort are probably killed in even more vegan/veg offending ways... big whoop! Next!
Spare the chickens. Eat the vegetarians and vegans whining about killing them.
delicious chickens,even better have a chicken, turkey, roast beef, and salami sandwich, deliciousand let us be honest, chickens are a much better source of protein then any fruit out therestop crying you environmental babies
We had a similar problem here in Chile in a reality show, but with adults, there was this big problem about killing a chicken but I don't remember how it was resolved... anyway, eat meat!
CBS loves being in the news now don't they!? They have been in the news quite lately!
Although I don't agree with the kids killing the chicken like that, it is a learning experience. I would have perfered an adult doing the chopping, but food is food. To all of those veggies out there that think these kids as going to meet Satan because of their deed, get a life. Humans eat meat. You don't get full on a bunch of multivitamins and a handful of beans. You only get gassy.
Yeah, the kids should've gone hunting for wild tofubeasts instead. Gimme a break.The radical vegans should be happy that Kid Nation shows children that "those chicken nuggets you enjoy come from actual chickens." A lot of kids probably don't realize this...Kid Nation is actually a fun show to watch with your kids.
Stupid LCA a$$holes. They only killed the chicken to survive and get protein. While you can get protein from nuts and beans, it tastes a lot better in chicken.
Now we know who watches the show.
That is stupid. I have never watched this show and have no intention to, becuase i dont really care for it or what it is about, but that is completely stupid. How is this any different then people on survivor killing chickens? Its not, the only difference is that it is kids instead of adults. This isnt the only reality show killing animals for entertainment, not to mention that its not pointless, they do eat them. And people need to eat, and how the hell would this show be what it is if they starvE???
NO wonder people pay no attention to animal-rights group, they just waste their time on stupidities like this. What difference will 18 chickens make on the global scale? Plus it's not like they're on an "endagered species" list.
People it's LIFE. L-I-F-E it happens all around us, learn to live with it.
say what you say but I wouldnt let that boy whose proably 15 because that is the age limit around my 8 year old which is the minimum age.
Come on, people. The actual killing (by which I mean the spurting stumps) wasn't shown, meaning that any entertainment to be had was in observing the kids' reactions and contemplating the morality of meat-eating.Besides, the chickens were eaten afterward, so it was hardly pointless cruelty.
This show is all about kids building a society of their own right? Well, eating food would seem to me to be a good idea. And killing a chicken is easy, my grandpa had a farm and we had to do it you just pick her up and wrap your hand around her neck and spin her around really fast like a rope. Then you cut off the head and pluck the feathers. And lastly cook as desired and eat, because the way i see it fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, and people gotta eat!
yeah right what an enlightening experiment for kids ... killing stupid chickens for no real other reasons than entertaining housewives and real tv addicts ...
Oh Please. That boy does NOT look like an adult. get some glasses or get a clue. And when i read how people think CBS used this whole chicken thing for ratings i say to myself, 'are these people serious?' Think OUT of the box people! The decision rather to eat or not eat the chickens is unavoidable. It is a natural thing to kill and eat meat (for some), especially since the kids are American. What do you think our ancestors did to eat meat? They sure didn't jump into their saddles and gallop to the nearest save mart. These kids are brave to do what they are doing, and this experience is going to impact their lives forever. This is our youth guys, don't you see that? No other generation has had this experience. Of course it's going to be hard on them, and they will have to make decisons the adults usually make. Lighten up America, what a positive thing they are doing and they are showing our kids at home what young people (ahem)basically on their own,are capable of achieving. (GEEZ)moreless
im sorry but that picture there of that kid looks like an adult. Notherless I think this show is just plain stupid.
cant some people get a clue or actually read the articles ? Its not so much about weither the damn chicken got a brain or not .. but about the fact that a tv channel is staging deaths for entertainement .You dont have to be puritan to find that disgusting ... especially when its done with the involment of kids ...The sheer idiocy of it goes full circle , when its done in the same country throwing a hissy fit at every violent videogames , or having issues with something natural like sex .
Agree with Water78. Ratings took a huge drop, now CBS need some more controversy to get the viewers back.
There just chickens! Mindless, dim-witted, delicious chickens!
I think CBS just wanted to be in the News - thanks Rather
Oh won't someone please think of the chickens!When they get their frozen chicken from the supermarket, how do they think they get there? Magic?Sure it's not nice to think about or see, but it is something that happens in life. Get over it.