Lessons Learned From Kid Nation

Mr A hates reality TV. He makes fun of my obsession with American Idol. He'll watch it with me but never gets into it or demands to watch it.
A few weeks ago I wanted to see where in China the new season of Survivor was. Since it was On Demand, I figured that I could watch a few minutes, fast forward passed anything annoying and turn it off. Mr A was watching Jackass as usual, so I asked if I could watch a few minutes of Survivor after the show was over. He scoffed, but ok as soon as this show was over I could watch but he did not want to watch. So I snuggled on the lovesac with him until Jackass was over. Since he was comfortable he choose not to leave when I turned on Survivor. I saw that they choose a remote location of China for Survivor, met the cast, was unimpressed and reached for the remote to turn it off.
"Aren't you going to watch the whole episode?" Mr A asked.
"No remember I just wanted to watch the first few minutes. Did you want to watch it?"
"No, I hate reality TV. This is stupid."
Ok, so I turned it off and I think we watched Good Eats instead. I love Alton Brown!
A few days later I came home and there was Mr A watching Survivor! He got sucked in. He has his favorite cast members and has some he despises. But in watching Survivor he found another show that sucked us both in, Kid Nation.
If you don't know the premise of Kid Nation, go here. But wow, what an amazing show. Some of these kids are amazing. Some parents should win a prize because these kids are wonderful. Hard working, up standing, resourceful little people. And it doesn't matter the age. Some of the kids are nine or ten and really know what they are doing. Some are older and are useless.
The worst is uberbrat Taylor. She annoys me so much. Her motto is deal with it. I imagine her mom says that to her all day. Her parents should be ashamed of her behavior.
I know they probably edit the show to make some kids look worse than others, but Taylor takes the cake. I never see her do anything redeeming and she makes life harder for the other kids.
I also I forget that racism and prejudice are born at home. Some parents are teaching their children to intolerant of other cultures. I forget that it's ongoing struggle to educate people of all ages to accept others. I'm so used to dealing with intolerant adults I forget that children aren't being taught tolerance. I picture children as kinder and more loving than adults. I forget that they can be just as mean as adults. Thanks, Kid Nation for reminding me!