The Kardashians. Snooki. Spencer Pratt. Honey Boo Boo. Just to mention a few of today’s “stars” who’ve risen to fame with little more than a part in reality TV. Over the years, reality TV has gained its fair (or maybe more than fair) share of followers. Reality TV is rumored to have started as early as 1948 with a show called “Candid Camera” that put hidden cameras in unexpected places and filmed pranks and people’s reactions to them. But, it wasn’t until MTV’s “The Real World” premiered in the 1990’s that reality TV really took off. Since then, reality TV has spanned to fulfill almost any interest. We tune in once a week to see who can lose the most weight. We text and call in votes for our favorite singers or dancers across various TV networks. We might even cry in happiness when someone finds her perfect wedding dress. But what once started as a fun, light-hearted way of entertainment has now become a dangerous trap.
Americans now spend almost a quarter of their leisure time watching some sort of reality TV; we as a society have become captured in its captivating vortex. In 2000, more people tuned in to watch the premiere season of “Survivor” than those watching Barack Obama’s inauguration (27 million vs. 20.6 million). In recent decades, reality shows have virtually surpassed all else, revealing some pretty shocking consequences. Nowadays we tune in for two hours to watch the newest Bachelor meet his potential suitors for the first time. We watch highschoolers bring their children into the world. We even watch a bunch of twenty-something-year-olds get drunk, go to bars, and do stupid things. What started as funny pranks and talent searches became a spotlight on behavior that is detrimental to our youth.
Studies have shown that watching reality TV has some startling negative effects on its faithful watchers; reality TV promotes bad behavior and poor social skills in its viewers. Of the girls who participated in the recent Girl Scout Research Institute’s survey, 86% felt that reality shows pit girls against each other to be more interesting and 70% felt that reality TV leads people to think it’s acceptable to treat other people badly. Also, alarmingly more reality-TV-watchers than non-watchers agreed that “you have to lie to get what you want,” “being mean earns you more respect than being nice,” and “you have to be mean to others to get what you want.” And that’s just the start.
Reality TV has also been shown to expose youth to a high volume of extreme violence. In one hour of prime time, there are more than 5 violent scenes found in reality TV shows. Unfortunately, such scenes are what boost these shows’ ratings and therefore nothing it being done to stop them. From a bar brawl on Jersey Shore (that led to countless assault charges, might I add) to a lovers’ quarrel on Teen Mom (that led to felony charges of domestic violence), it’s all over reality TV. Such high occurrences of publicized violence give young watchers the impression that these behaviors are much more acceptable than they really are. But it doesn’t even stop there.
Even more concerning, reality TV has been shown to have a detrimental effect on its watchers’ self-images. The Girl Scout survey revealed more reality-TV-watching girls say they spend a lot of time on their appearance and 10% more of them said they’d rather be recognized for their outer beauty rather than inner beauty. Medical Procedure News released a study revealing that 9.2 million cosmetic procedures have been performed as a result of people watching reality TV shows. And, another study showed that eating disorders in teenage girls have tripled since the boom of reality TV at the turn of the century.
Even though there could be other factors contributing to the results of these disturbing studies, they do reveal some startling consequences that may be severely overlooked by our contemporary society. These reality TV shows that are supposed to be portraying relatable, real-life scenarios are actually just altering the general public’s perception of reality. These things that are seen too often and taken too lightly may one day be the reason for our youth’s decline. What once started off as innocent entertainment has now potentially become the start of some bad life lessons. What happens next is up to us.
Sources:
http://www2.bgsu.edu/departments/tcom/faculty/ha/tcom103spring2002/gp8/
http://anhoward.wordpress.com/the-effect-reality-tv-is-having-on-us-shocking-statistics/
http://www.jobmonkey.com/realitytv/reality-tv-statistics.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/14/news/la-heb-girl-scouts-reality-tv-20111014
http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2013/presidential-inauguration-draws-20-6-million-viewers.html
I think the essay is strong because you presented your thoughts in a very logical way and it’s really easy to follow. You did a good job to support your main idea by including many reality show examples and study about them, . Particularly, I like your last paragraph the most because the way it ends inspires readers to think more about reality shows and today’s social environment. The one small point I noticed is that you kind of divide your essay into too many paragraphs. With so many short paragraphs and lack of transition, readers may be unsure about your main idea in the middle of your essay.
I really liked your essay and I thought it was easy to follow. You did a nice job incorporating facts and statistics into your argument. However, I would sometimes like a little more explanation on these studies. For example, the study where there have been cosmetic procedures linked to reality shows. How do people know this? Other than that, really strong essay!
A very concise essay that flowed nicely, and was easy to follow. If the last sentence in your intro paragraph is your thesis maybe elaborate on it more (why is reality tv a dangerous trap.) Great use of stats and facts to bolster your argument. It is hard not to trust what you are saying.
I think your essay is incredibly well written. Your essay flows really well and is enjoyable to read. I think the strongest part of your essay is how you’ve integrated statistics and examples into the essay. It’s very well researched! The only thing is that your thesis is clear, but it is not as strong as the argument in your essay. I think you could make it a little stronger and then your essay would be perfect!
Gina, I thought your essay was really strong. You include a lot of great comparisons of the then-and-now variety (such as the number of people who watched Survivor vs. Obama’s inauguration). I think that you make some really good points about how reality TV has become a detrimental part of society and provide ample evidence to back up your argument. Particularly, your conclusion is very well written and gets your points across in a clear and concise manner. Your second to last paragraph, however, seems to just be lumped in with the rest, as it deals with a new (although related) issue. Maybe using that space to further progress your arguments about the stimulation of violence by reality TV. Great work!