Although there are so many channels that offer different choices of material to watch throughout the day, it seems that more and more Americans of all ages are turning the channel to reality television shows. Although some of these reality television shows can be educational at points, more often than not the subject matter of the reality television shows portray only actions that most people should never try to replicate.
As the material that reality TV portrays to the world is usually very negative, the question must be raised: is reality television good for the world and the youth of this great country, or are the obscene actions performed on these shows detrimental to the society as a whole?
Take for example the antics of TI and Tiny – the reality TV show as well as the actions taking by Kevin Hart’s reality TV show; making a substantial amount of money but at what cost. Many of the scenes in both of these shows portray people making obscene gestures towards each other, cursing in large amounts and being very rude and negative to the people around them. Although this provides entertainment for many different types of people, this is a very adult-oriented type of television programming that is only intended for a mature audience.
The problem is, many people cannot afford to put their children in a day-care facility. Instead, people use the television as a type of daycare when they are away from the home, whether it’s out on a date or at work. Children that are flipping through the channels can very easily land on a channel that is showing one of these reality television shows that is not educational or helpful in any way. As children are heavily influenced by the actions they witness, this can be very detrimental to the child’s attitude both at home and at school.
When a child at school witnesses another child replicating the actions that are portrayed in the reality TV show, they may replicate these actions as well, causing harm to children other than the initial child that watched the program.
In conclusion, reality TV shows are not detrimental to the country as a whole as long as they are watched by the intended audience. A person who is old enough to simply laugh at an action, but not replicate it isn’t harmed by the television show. However, when televisions are not monitored by parental controls, shows of this nature can harm children in many different ways.