Can they build a better world than grown-ups? Who knows, but William Golding would be turning in his grave.

Forty children, 40 days, no parents.

It may sound like every kid’s dream but life on Kid Nation (Fridays, 7.30pm, Ten) certainly ain’t no picnic – hell no! ’Speshly when there’s nuthin’ but tinned beans, tinned apples and tinned corn on the cotton-pickin’ menu and yo’ mama ain’t there to do yo’ washin’ or cookin’. Tarnation and dangit t’ heck!

Sorry, but the fact that this bizarre reality show is set in, wait for it, Bonanza City, makes me wanna speak laahk one o’ them rednik good ol’ boys from Alabammy, down delta way. Let’s say it together: “Bonaaaaanza Ci-teh!”

According to “folklore” this is the town in the middle of New Mexico nowhere that those famed forefathers (were there ever foremothers in American history?) failed to run properly (maybe if the foremothers were given a little more power, it might just have worked), leaving it abandoned and looking like a Hollywood movie set (remember that point).

Genius brains at US TV network CBS then decided to hand pick 40 kids aged between eight and 15, drive them into town – on a yellow school bus, no less – and give them the run of the city, minus any adult supervision.

These are weird kids. Supposedly a mixture of rich and poor, smart and not too smart, north and south and city and country, some of them are more articulate than the US senate.

Sophia, who is apparently 14 but I’m sure is really pushing 40 (her role model is Don Quixote), is this jaded bossy britches from Florida who actually saved the bewildered group from certain death by starvation in the first week, thanks to her control freakiness in the kitchen.

So impressive was she that she won the first coveted gold star, a prize so prestigious it elicits endless ooohs and aaahs from all who squint admiringly at its shininess, which is bestowed by the four-person Town Council and which also equates to a handy $20,000 to put towards college, Oreos or lawyers’ fees when they have a Todd Bridges episode.

Then there’s Michael, sweet Michael, who I reckon should be president – he even lives in Washington!! This softly spoken 15-year-old most admires the Dalai Lama and Bill Gates, says “ethics, compassion, unselfishness, intelligence and energy” make a good leader, and would legislate for universal health care for kids if he could. Amen.

He doesn’t say much, but when he does everyone listens and then applauds their approval with great thunderous cheers. I am hoping there will be a peaceful coup whereby a loyal band of Michaelites will overthrow the current town council and install their mighty leader as mayor. He is a great kid.

The town council, however, are a motley bunch getting drunker and drunker on the power each week. Bostonian Laurel should get a gold star for the most annoying American accent, Mike is an angry little man who has a corporate career as a mean bean counter in the bag, pipsqueak Anjay is afraid to talk and pint-sized princess Taylor is from Georgia and has the second worst accent (“Beauty queens do not do dishes”).

This is Lord of the Flies with a 2007 edge, but it’s reality TV gone mad. And, while no one has marched out of the root beer-serving saloon with a pig’s head on a stick (so far), the show is just as disturbing as the book. We had the next best thing, in fact, with bully Greg putting his hand up to slaughter two chickens in front of the horrified group so the town could have “fresh meat”.

Is it a good idea to put kids in a reality show? How will this experience shape these kids as adults? What does removing an eight-year-old from his parents do to a kid’s mental health? And exactly what are the legal and moral (and health and safety) implications here?

This TV show, based on what I think is a horrible premise, makes for both countless cringes and entertaining viewing in equal measure at my place. The last time I was this confused watching TV was when the infuriating Tara Dennis made a vase out of wool, chopsticks, glitter and craft glue on Better Homes and Gardens.

And my tip is that all the kids in this show are actually actors, complete with Hollywood set, not a random bunch of teeny Yanks at all. It’s way too contrived.

Check out the kids’ profiles on www.cbs.com/primetime/kid_nation

— REBECCA MARSHALL