The television was invented in 1927 and has since become a staple in homes across America. Today the average American adult spends five hours a day watching television. Reality Television has been around since the 1940’s and has become one of the most popular television genres. Reality TV is television that has real life situations that can be used to be informative for instance shows like an Animal Planet documentaries or for entertainment which is the most common category with shows such as The Real Housewives. While some reality TV shows like house hunters are more harmless than others such as the jersey shore. With Americans spending so much time watching TV, should they spend it watching shows like The Jersey Shore that showcases bullying and binge drinking for entertainment? This is just one of the many reality TV shows that attracts viewers by glorifying unhealthy behavior, that Americans cannot get enough of. These seemingly harmless “guilty pleasures” TV shows are having a negative effect on society without viewers noticing. 

With such a diverse and broad spectrum, the shows that viewers should worry about the negative effects from are the entertainment focused shows, that are drama fueled and opinion based like The Real Housewives, Teen Mom, and The Bachelor. These shows often seem like real life plots but they are almost always exaggerating for the attracting large audiences. The unnatural and unhealthy behavior only adds to the attractions of reality TV. But why do people love it so much? What is the cost of entrainment? Is it healthy for teenagers and young adults to constantly watch programs that involve this kind of behavior?

If reality TV negatively effects society then it effects everyone not just the viewers. In the article "Our Unhealthy Love of Reality TV Bullies" featured on the CNN website by Jen Christensen, the topic of bullying becoming normalized as a form of entertainment is discussed. Christensen uses the poplar TV show "Kitchen Nightmares" starring Gordon Ramsey yelling at a middle-age-woman to the point of tears as if it is a reasonable reaction for his dislike of the women’s cooking. If this kind of behavior was to happen in a restaurant, not starring on a hit reality TV show, it would be seen as cruel and unacceptable but because cameras are filming it is seen as a form of entertainment. The article discusses how bullying may not always be as obvious as screaming or physical violence but can be just as harmful to the target. Covert bulling behavior of name calling or curling targeting a victim at a public event. By showing these actions on TV, programmers and viewers are making it seem to think it’s okay to treat people in this manner. The show “basketball wives” that is similar to “The Real Housewives” where grown woman call each other names and spread rumors behind their backs but still included one another in social events, is still a bullying behavior. This type of behavior is shown to be normal on these shows and because of it, more and more people talk badly about their so called “friends” behind their backs. 

These behaviors are being promoted all over TV networks while children networks are running campaigns to bring awareness to and stop bullying yet how can a child tell the deference between bullying and reality entrainment? To back up her claims Christensen includes psychologist, Sarah Coyne, foundlings of “research shows in the short term our own concepts of aggression are activated in the brain when we watch these shows, and we are primed to behave aggressively”. While research of the long term effects is missing there is research of how reality effects children as they grow up. The research concluded that children who watched aggressive and violent behavior on TV were more likely to be aggressive and engage in inappropriate behavior when they became adults. This is a very alarming statistic since so much of TV or video games contains at least some sort of violence. When reality TV has a long term negative effect on children that is changes their lives forever, it is no longer entertainment it is dangerous.  

Teenage girls were the focus of a study done by the 2011 Girl Scout Research Institute study used in "Our Unhealthy Love of Reality TV Bullies" and the peer review  “Real Mean Girl?” In the peer review by Elizabeth ‬Behm-Morawitz, ‬Jennifer ‬Lewallen, ‬and ‬Brandon ‬Miller of the University of Missouri, the authors discuss the association between watching reality TV and acting like a "mean girl". A mean girl is a female with the “belief that other girls were untrustworthy, that social aggression (e.g., gossiping) is a normal part of girls’ relationships with each other, and that it is necessary to be mean or lie to get‬‬‬‬‬‬ ahead in life”. The peer review introduces the ideas that reality TV has a negative effect by reinforcing gender stereotypes of men being physical and mentally dominate while girls are often portrayed as more emotional and less reasonable. The “Mean Girl” and gender stereotype is seen in shows like The Real Housewives that is literally calling them “house wives” even if some of the reality stars have multimillion dollar companies they run or own. But showing them going to parties and talking gossiping about one another. The tactic used to attract young female viewers is called First-Person Desire which is when reality TV is produced to be like the viewer is part of the show. The show Keeping Up with The Kardashian is known for this. The show is presented in a way the viewer can put themselves in the place of almost always rich, famous and attractive reality star. By watching these kinds of shows, it allows the viewer to leave their own world and go into someone else’s. While the stars of hit shows are portrayed as a certain way, reality TV often spends the truth. ‬‬‬‬‬‬

The bachelor is the longest running romantic reality show ever. On the show either a bachelor or bachelorette are looking for love and 20 men or women compete to be the one that gets engaged at the end of the season. If it was not being filmed and was the real way the person tried the find “the one” it would be completely looked down on. Someone dating 20 people at one time and to get in engaged after only six weeks, it would be insane and unrealistic. But not if it is reality TV, where people cannot get enough of it. This is another uses of the First-Person Desire strategy being used. Almost every viewers wants to be the star or one of the contests. 

The season eleven Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe shares her experience in TED talk.  The first question she is asked is “why does reality TV work?” she answers “the word reality I think of something real and when something is real you think of it being authentic” she goes on to say reality TV has gone from authentic to manufactured. That the concept is unrealistic but that’s why people love it. Kaitlyn mentions the idea of how First-Person Desire let people think about what they would do and criticize TV stars yet they could have done the same thing. When asked why she went on the show she admits that it was the build a brand for herself.  She a talks about how at the end of the show she was given a therapist to cope with after the show. this shows that the shows producers know the toll it takes on the contests.  And how when the “fifteen minutes of fame” are up people think it is okay to cyber bullied her because they think they know you. The negative effects of reality are evident from both sides of the camera.  

Sadie Gennis the author of “Why Reality TV Is Good for Us" views the opportunity to judge someone they do not know or have the right to crises has “healthy” because it makes the viewers feel better about themselves when watching “My Strange Addiction. This mindset is an example of how in society it is acceptable to tear someone else one person can feel better about them self. Gennis goes as far to say “reality TV serves a variety of useful and important functions and I, for one, am a better person because of it”. She has no research to back up her opinion statements 

After reviewing the sources, reality TV seems to be more harmful then helpful. Showing teenagers and young adults certain values and actions that are not moral is wrong and can lead to them doing these same things when they grow up. Showing the youth aggressive behavior on television can lead to themselves being aggressive with their peers and even parents. Young girls can become corrupted by watching these reality TV stars talk badly about each other and then put on a fake face and act as if they are best friends. They can carry this over into their real lives with their friends and end up being bad friends and people. Overall, reality TV is does more harm to society then it does promote goo values.  

 