The Impact of Reality Shows on the Younger Generation

Post date: May 3, 2023

By Carina Larocca

The other day, I spent some time with my eight year old cousin. I treated them to Chick Fil A and a little television while we ate. When I asked what show I should put on, I expected My Little Pony, or maybe Power Rangers. I was surprised to hear the requested show to be Love Island. Why would an eight year old want to watch a show like that? Do they even understand the adult concepts in the show? If so, should an eight year old really be subjected to such television? Reality shows use their influence to support unrealistic beauty standards, support distorted values, and show unrealistic images of success.

A common occurrence in any reality show are the above average appearances of the featured people. Because of this, these shows promote the idea that success or a person's value is based on their appearance, which is false. Children look up to these characters in these shows, and can result in self esteem issues later on from comparing themselves to these role models. Keeping Up With the Kardashians, for instance, is a perfect example of unrealistic beauty standards and a result in success. Each Kardashian has gotten countless plastic surgeries done, and look how successful they are because of their beauty and name. Reality shows often focus on material things like partying and drinking as well. Young folk watching this do not see the consequences from their actions as bad but actually good, as these people are being rewarded with money and fame for their actions. Jersey Shore showed a lot of this, including getting arrested, but instead of showing children not partaking  in such behavior, the show’s influence instead supports these actions.

Others, however, may disagree and say reality TV can be beneficial. Not all shows support these ideals. For example, Oprah’s OWN network, or Shark Tank, would be considered “good” reality TV. Oprah’s show followed a non-profit organization while they delivered over 100,000 hearing aids to Africa, and Shark Tank aids in a new start up company every episode. Some may argue that because of shows like these, children are inspired and exposed to kindness in the world.

Essentially, not all reality TV is “bad”, however, for the most part, reality shows promote false concepts of beauty standards, success, and distorted values. The younger generation should be protected from such influential content.