Schools

Reality TV is Trash TV, Emmaus High Student Says

Emmaus High School sophomore Nicole Meilinger says that Reality TV needs to be revamped to make a more positive impact on society.

Special to Emmaus Patch by Nicole Meilinger

Reality television has quickly grown popular since its comeback in 1992, unfortunately not for the good of the viewers.

A few shows scattered from network to network including Survivor and The Bachelor offer a new way to experience television. However, Reality TV has spun out of control, with channels solely dedicated to this mindless entertainment. Channels such as MTV and Bravo promote bad behavior as well as bad lifestyles.

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In the past decade, Reality TV shows have been targeted towards teen audiences with shows like True Life, Buckwild, The Real World, Teen Mom, and many others. Nevertheless, these shows are shallow with little to no traces of intelligence for viewers. Cast members on these shows are filmed during their alarmingly distasteful day-to-day lives. These “average” teenagers set the norm by spending hours in a tanning bed after school but before picking their toddler up from daycare. Worst of all, youth tuning into these shows are at the most influential points in their lives. The cast members’ disturbing behavior swings from entertaining to inspiring for such capricious admirers.

Although reality TV offers teens a way to feel connected and inspired by other teens, with every episode the audience is tricked into believing the way the cast lives is the right way.

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In the last 10 years reality TV has become one of the biggest money makers for television.

Admittedly, reality TV-shows do save networks money by cutting costs for scripts and sets but the extra money will never be worth the atrocious effect on countries like America.

Reality shows like The Real Housewives and the Jersey Shore are two of the most popular but also the most abominable. These shows not only depict bad behavior by degrading girls with hurtful names like “grenade” but also demonstrate altogether poor lifestyles.

A typical episode of the Jersey Shore: sleep in bed until 4 p.m., wake up to get a slice of pizza on the boardwalk, head to the club, get in a bar fight, and drunkenly stumble home to bed with a complete stranger. On an episode of The Real Housewives, families spend money left and right on extravagant parties where catty middle-aged women turn against friends with lawsuits over being accused of wearing padded underwear. These people are not exactly role models!

Reality TV-shows convey a message that underage drinking, having sexual relations with strangers, and believing that money is the most important thing, are all acceptable. While reality TV will be around for years to come, shows with such an impact on viewers need to be changed for a positive, opposed to negative, effect on America.

Nicole Meilinger is a currently a student in Ms. Bonnie Raub's 10th grade honors English class at Emmaus High School. Simms wrote this essay as part of a class assignment.


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