Shock and despair were in large supply a few weeks ago when the so-called “balloon boy,” six-year-old Falcon Heene, was allegedly trapped in what looked like a large Jiffy Pop high in the sky over Colorado. As the initial story – which was suspiciously short on details – went, young Falcon had become entrapped in his father’s backyard balloon, which then took off in highly dramatic, made-for-TV fashion.

As it turned out, like most tests of mass gullibility often show, the lack of detail was important. The boy had been hiding in the attic the whole time.

The game was up once CNN’s Wolf Blitzer interviewed the boy, who unsurprisingly displayed the most sense out of anyone involved in the hoax – parents and media alike – by telling the truth, the way that only a six-year-old removed from the trappings of greed and showmanship can.

Turns out, the parents had exploited the thought of their child’s possible death-by-balloon in the hopes of securing a television show – most likely on TLC, where hideous displays of child and familial exploitation usually dwell.

The public, of course, has vilified Falcon’s ignoramus father for causing them to engage in the high drama under false pretenses.

“How dare they,” you can imagine some sloth in front of a plasma screen condemn. “The balloon chase drew us away from Barack Obama’s speech in New Orleans!”

That the Heene parents are deranged beasts unfit for public sympathy is nearly universally recognized. What has been pitifully ignored is the fact that had Falcon not let the cat out of the bag, the Heenes most likely would have a television show in the works.

You don’t have to look far to witness how willing the public is to support parents pimping their children for mass consumption.

“ You don’t have to look far to witness how willing the public is to support parents pimping their children for mass consumption.

Just witness the horde of television programs currently on the roster of cultural cable wastelands such as TLC, and behold the proof that one’s own titular reality show is not a hard thing to come by, so long as one’s children can be showcased like trophies. Shows like Jon & Kate Plus 8 and 18 Kids and Counting thrive on the appeal of a public enamoured with the spectacle of children on display. Overabundant procreation is now all that is needed to secure a place in the hearts of the modern television herd.

Whereas “reality” shows once gloried in the perverse, the disgusting and the dysfunctional, they are increasingly becoming testaments to human breeders, who direct their flocks of children towards the cameras in order to secure lucrative television deals from networks which are more than happy to insert cameras into the lives of confused kids. This only happens because the public are entranced by the thieving of childhood on an almost religious basis.

Interestingly, some in the local religious community understand just how easily the public can be compelled by the use of children as props, as witnessed during the latest 40 Days of Life anti-abortion protest at the Health Sciences Centre.

As advocates of the Campaign for Life Coalition urged people to “pray” to end abortion in front of the Women’s Hospital, it couldn’t be ignored by those passing by that some of those “praying” were significantly young children.

Not to be overly presumptuous, but it is safe to assume that these children were not there under their own will. If they were able to understand what they were protesting, which is highly unlikely, they certainly were not of an age where they are able to make an informed decision on the matter of abortion.

But the Campaign for Lifers understand exactly what Jon, Kate and the Heenes understand: The public pays attention when kids are paraded around for profit – whether monetary or moral. The balloon boy’s family, as well as the pro-lifers, are only giving the public what they want.

Andrew Tod is a politics student at the University of Winnipeg.