stance on the problems that reality television has on the youth

Problems That Reality TV Has on The Youth
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Abstract
This paper takes a stand that reality TV has caused visible harm to the young generation. By using statistics, previous research, and numerous examples, it explains in detail how the damage has come about. Nevertheless, the paper acknowledges that reality TV provides a unique form of entertainment flavored with drama and suspense. The article first shows how reality TV has led to low self-esteem in young people. It then discusses how the reality TV has led to the erosion of social norms and morals. The article further proves that scenes of unethical behaviors are rife even in popular reality shows. Finally, the paper explains how and why an increasing number of youths are getting addicted to reality TV. It demonstrates the harm by showing how the addiction leads to reduced productivity. The paper concludes by giving recommendations on how to mitigate the damage caused by reality TV. It urges producers, TV owners, and parents to take the initiative and control the content that young people watch.
Problems That Reality TV Has on The Youth
Reality TV has been on a steady rise. Ever since they hit the stage in the late 90’s, the audience has been increasing every year. People love the shows because they are entertaining and thrilling. Furthermore, unlike most movies, they give the audience a chance to know the everyday life of the actors and contribute to the show. For example, in some plays, the audience votes on which characters will be retained or eliminated.

Despite those advantages, reality TV shows have presented new problems, especially for the youth. They feature scenes of sex, partying, violence, and other social ills. Though the scenes are meant to be the reality, they are often edited and exaggerated to create the thrill. This influences some youths to change their norms to conform to the standards set by the reality TV stars. The exposure to reality shows has affected the youth negatively. It has led to a considerable change of behavior and a loss of self-esteem. In addition to that, it has led to addiction and loss of productivity. This article discusses the mentioned effects in detail.
The characters in reality television are often made to appear flawless. This has made youths to lose self-esteem while aiming to be like the celebrities. Unlike adults, young people are not able to tell that the features of some stars are exaggerated and abnormal. Some characters are even handpicked because they possess specific “perfect” characteristics. Research by Web MD Medical News indicates that there has a been a 300% increase in eating disorders among teenage girls since 2000, the year that reality shows rose to popularity CITATION Kir03 l 1033 (Kirchheimer, 2003). That study suggests that teens are changing their eating habits to attain the “perfect” appearance. Loss of self-esteem is conspicuous in matters related to feminine beauty and physical looks. In a reality show like Keeping Up with The Kardashians, the appearance of the characters is mostly enhanced to make them ideal for the cast. A youth watching that show is likely to develop a mentality that women should dress and look like the celebrities all the time. They forget that the characters have professional and fashion designers to take care of their image in the cast.
As earlier stated, reality shows involve scenes of sex, violence, and consumerism. The effect of that is an erosion of social norms and change in behavior. Producers add these scenes for entertainment. When there are too much of such scenes on television, people see them as conventional. When young people no longer view ills such as violence as wrong, they freely engage in them. An example of a show that featured a lot of extreme scenes is The Flavor of Love. The show had multiple scenes of violence and open sexual affairs. One scenario captured a lady who had been eliminated from the contest spat on another woman. Another popular show, The Real Housewives, involved lots of gossip and conflict between women. Considering that reality TV shows are supposed to imitate events in ordinary life, The Real Housewives easily gives an impression that gossip and disputes are parts of a woman’s everyday life (Jagodzinski, 2003). Furthermore, most characters are celebrities. Celebrities act as the role models for many young people. When they see the stars fighting and misbehaving, they are likely to emulate them.
Reality shows are addictive. This makes the youth spend too much time following them thus reducing their productivity. A survey conducted in 2010 revealed that out of 20 programs that were rated highly, 15 of them were reality Tv shows CITATION Car10 l 1033 (Carter, 2010). That implies that a large part of the TV time is spent on reality shows. There are specific factors that make reality shows addictive. First of all, they are a series of weekly episodes which run for months. One is therefore forced to watch every episode to maintain the flow. Furthermore, most shows have an aspect of competition and suspense which heightens the drama. Even after spending significant time watching and re-watching the shows on TV, more time is spent discussing them in school and following the celebrities on social media. Watching reality shows is an excellent source of entertainment. However, when one is addicted, they cannot make a good choice when the shows coincide with other productive chores.
If the situation is left as it is, reality TV will bring more and more damage to the society. Youths are the most vulnerable because most of them cannot see through the stereotypes that come with reality television. It is understandable that for producers to stay in business, the shows have to be entertaining. However, they should be a means of controlling what is fed to the youths by the presentations. Producers should be conscious of the fact that both adults and children watch the content they create. They should, therefore, make an effort to mitigate the damage caused by their content. For example, they can learn adverts and disclaimers to educate the young generation that everything in the shows is not real. They can also create content that is tailored to solve problems which youths encounter such as drug abuse. Parents also have a role to play. They should warn their children against watching particular reality shows besides advising them not to spend too much time on TV.
References
Carter, B. (2010, September 13). Tired of Reality TV, but Still Tuning In. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/13/business/media/13reality.html
Jagodzinski, J. (2003). The perversity of (Real)ity TV: A symptom of our times. Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society, 8(2), 320-329.
Kirchheimer, S. (2003, February 28). “Reality” TV Trigger Health Issues? Retrieved from WebMD: https://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20030228/reality-tv-trigger-health-issues#1