New Mexico Attorney General Reopens CBS Kid Nation Investigation

LOS ANGELES, August 24: New Mexico’s attorney general has
reopened an investigation into CBS’s new reality show Kid Nation over allegations that the series violated
child-labor laws.

The series was shot in New Mexico, where 40 kids between the
ages of 8 and 15 are chronicled as they work to “build a new society in an
abandoned ghost town,” according to CBS press materials. The state’s attorney
general, Gary K. King, halted his initial investigation after production
wrapped in late May. He has now instructed his office to “go back and look at
this and see if there were any problems,” according to The New York Times. The series is slated to launch on the CBS schedule
this September.

One parent has already complained about injuries to her
child while on location, while the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families
Department and the Department of Workforce Solutions have both maintained that
CBS never obtained approval from them to film the series. The Times reports that a number of kids were injured over the
course of filming the show—four children reportedly drank bleach from a
soda bottle, while another was burned while cooking without supervision.