Reality television is a genre of television programming documents in unscripted situations and actual occurrences. Imagine being followed around all day, every day, with every move made and every word spoken being captured on tape. Some people may think that this is a good idea, but is it really ethical? If it is not, then why is it done? All of these questions have been raised by people claiming that reality television actually harms viewers and the truth is that it does. Reality TV promotes unethical actions. Reality TV persuades people to go down the wrong path in life and the genre has also been rocked by real life scandals that that are mirrored in a set-up reality show. Reality TV is not even safe to film due to multiple injuries and deaths sustained while filming.
The harmful elements to Reality TV are very obvious. Unethical actions are often portrayed and promoted in reality shows for viewer entertainment. However, what actors and writers do not realize is that there are people out there actually repeating what they see. For instance, shows such as Jersey Shore, 16 and Pregnant, Teen Mom, and Bad Girls Club promote sexual relationships along with one night stands. In these sexual relationships, they often end in a pregnancy, whereas the people involved were only looking to have some fun. In addition to moral considerations, one-night stands can place individuals at greater risk for sexually transmitted infections, and also greatly increase the risk of pregnancy.
Using the shows Jersey Shore, Keeping up with the Kardashians, and Mob Wives, it is easy to see how alcohol is promoted. This can even be said for underage people in some circumstances, depending on the state. Reality shows are often praised for high ratings, and they even go into more detail with demographics. The dominant viewership belongs to white females, but no too far behind falls Hispanic males. A survey was actually conducted on them, and the results were shocking. This study surveyed 286 Hispanic college students at a southwest university using the Hispanic Alcohol Use and Reality TV survey. The majority of participants agreed that reality TV encourages college students' alcohol consumption and overwhelmingly agreed that reality TV depicted alcohol consumption as glamorous with far fewer recognizing any depiction of negative consequences.The journal of alcohol & drug education references the study above.
While a lot of shows are filmed inside of a closed set, being a reality show means following the life of a person. Wherever actors go, whenever they go there, they are being watched. Actors are never safe, and they are constantly being watched by many people. It is not hard to hunt down where and actor is and do harm to them.
Reality TV is a very dangerous concept, and is more harmful to people than beneficial. Reality TV persuades people to go down the wrong path in life. Reality TV portrays unethical incidents, and reality TV is not safe to film. Now, imagine being followed around with a camera all day? Imagine a friend watching a reality TV show and going down the wrong path because of this. Reality TV shows are dangerous to people rather than beneficial.
