Does reality television do more harm than good?!

[I Love You]

Hello. I got complaints of my last debate thread in the skype group chat so I decided to make a more challenging debate.

Does reality television do more harm than good?!
What are your opinions. If you are going to reply please make sure you leave why you think it does more good or bad so I can make a comment back.

I am going to have to say reality television does more good than bad because it is what people watch and look up to these days. I love to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians. It is one of my favorite shows and everyone in my house also watches it. I think since a lot of people watch it they should give their audience what they want, and we want more Kardashians.

They help us and can be educational. They are a reality show. I rather watch a video of someone else's life and how they do things if I am going to sit down and waste my own. I can pick up their ideas and actions from the TV show rather than watching a show like spongebob where all I would learn is to act dumb.

They help us to reach for our dreams. They wear the nicest clothes and drive the nicest cars. This makes me push harder to have bigger dreams than living in a small pineapple under the sea. I really love reality TV shows and I believe that we can learn a lot from them so for this debate I believe that reality shows do more good than bad.

What is your opinion?! Please leave a message here. This thread is open for discussion.

Replies may be slow because I am watching Mako Mermaids on Disney Channel.

Thank you

[Mama Bear]

I am going to have to say reality television does more good than bad because it is what people watch and look up to these days. I love to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians. It is one of my favorite shows and everyone in my house also watches it. I think since a lot of people watch it they should give their audience what they want, and we want more Kardashians.

They help us and can be educational. They are a reality show. I rather watch a video of someone else's life and how they do things if I am going to sit down and waste my own. I can pick up their ideas and actions from the TV show rather than watching a show like spongebob where all I would learn is to act dumb.

They help us to reach for our dreams. They wear the nicest clothes and drive the nicest cars. This makes me push harder to have bigger dreams than living in a small pineapple under the sea. I really love reality TV shows and I believe that we can learn a lot from them so for this debate I believe that reality shows do more good than bad.

I completely disagree with you. What's interesting though, is that the reasons you cite for reality TV being good are the same as the ones I have for it being harmful. The first bolded part, about people looking up to reality tv stars like the Kardashians, is a huge concern to me. Since people like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians had their reality shows, people were admiring people who were getting famous for absolutely no reason, other than because they're rich and had famous daddies. That is not something worth admiring, in my opinion. They are not talented. They are not intelligent. They did not earn their fame or wealth themselves- those clothes and cars you admire were paid for because they had rich daddies and silver spoons in their mouths. They are, more often than not, vapid and petty. They do not exemplify what I think is best for society at all. Why should we celebrate that, over the people who work at making the world a better place? I acknowledge that there are reality shows that focus on these people- here in Australia we have one about the surf lifesavers of Bondi beach, for instance- but the vast majority of reality tv does not focus on these sort of topics. They're a voyeuristic window into the lives of idiots like Jessica Simpson wondering if tuna is chicken or fish. If you're worried that regular programming makes people dumb, then surely you cannot deny that reality tv like that is toxic to intelligence.

Every day I teach students who grow up idolising reality stars like Kim K or Paris Hilton. It makes me worried for the future. I think South Park satirised this concern very well in the episode Stupid Spoilt Whore, which showed the negative influence of those stars on the next generation.

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[Maison]

IMHO I think reality tv show does more harm than bad but I still watch them anyways... Like I mean they are nice and all but so much people try to be like them that they don't like themselves because they don't think they are pretty if that makes sense... LOL

[haiqtpi]

I completely disagree with you. What's interesting though, is that the reasons you cite for reality TV being good are the same as the ones I have for it being harmful. The first bolded part, about people looking up to reality tv stars like the Kardashians, is a huge concern to me. Since people like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians had their reality shows, people were admiring people who were getting famous for absolutely no reason, other than because they're rich and had famous daddies. That is not something worth admiring, in my opinion. They are not talented. They are not intelligent. They did not earn their fame or wealth themselves- those clothes and cars you admire were paid for because they had rich daddies and silver spoons in their mouths. They are, more often than not, vapid and petty. They do not exemplify what I think is best for society at all. Why should we celebrate that, over the people who work at making the world a better place? I acknowledge that there are reality shows that focus on these people- here in Australia we have one about the surf lifesavers of Bondi beach, for instance- but the vast majority of reality tv does not focus on these sort of topics. They're a voyeuristic window into the lives of idiots like Jessica Simpson wondering if tuna is chicken or fish. If you're worried that regular programming makes people dumb, then surely you cannot deny that reality tv like that is toxic to intelligence.

Every day I teach students who grow up idolising reality stars like Kim K or Paris Hilton. It makes me worried for the future. I think South Park satirised this concern very well in the episode Stupid Spoilt Whore, which showed the negative influence of those stars on the next generation.

Very much this! As much as I hate to play the age card, we didn't have reality TV when I grew up as a kid, I still remember the first season of survivor when I was a teen and then Simple Life, etc. What I have noticed since the start of reality tv's climb to the top of the charts, is that kids are becoming bigger asshats. They are arrogant, thoughtless, and focus on such stupid and trivial matters. Priorities in life have become so vain, people like Kardashians and shit are idols for some strange reason, while the people who are actually changing the world and doing something with their lives are not. I dunno...as great as technology is, what ever happened to kids going out and playing outside? This may not directly be related to reality tv, but the culture itself has devolved, imo.

Hate on me all you want lol Call me grandpa if you like, but I simply cannot stand kids these days. Not to say that us children of the mid-late 80s are particularly golden examples of a phenomenal generation, but I feel like we were the last like...normal one, since we grew up without the internet. Man, I sound like such a curmudgeon xD

[Cath]

A lot of researches have been done in the past and state that TV does more harm than good. It has more negative effects on young children since it somehow affects their brain development in their early age. I don't mind what teens or adults do with their free time since they should already be aware of what the consequences might be, but I think it would be better for children to stay away from watching TV too much. I feel like most people give technology too much importance and forget how to have fun without it. Playing outside and exercising seem to be harder to implant into children's life because they are already used at an early age to spend their day doing nothing. And as others said already, most TV content isn't educational in any way and doesn't bring anything good in the end unless you are actually watching something useful such as documentaries, cooking or whatever is useful for your everyday life. There's nothing wrong in watching TV from time to time, but beside entertaining you, there's not much that comes from it imo. I don't see what good can come out of turning your brain off fixing a screen for so long. (Pretty ironic since I spend most of my time in front of the computer or videogames, but I truly wish my parents taught me to have more fun without those, but I guess some life events lead to this type of behavior :') )

[alilquicker]

I think they do more harm than good, specifically referring to reality TV shows. While television programs surely are capable of being educational or enlightening or otherwise have a positive effect, I find there to be nothing positive about reality shows except for a temporary and short-lived entertainment.

"Reality" shows are completely manufactured and to a young or a susceptible mind it can give deceiving thoughts and ideas of what "real life" is like. I can't name any "reality star" that I would consider to be a good role model. Their "success" is living a fake life on television for poorer people to sit at their screens and watch them and live some unrealistic life of luxury and excess vicariously through them... And at the end of the day those "stars" are making exorbitant amounts of money while the average viewer will probably never make a "star"'s yearly or even monthly earnings in an entire lifetime. And did they even "earn" their fame? It is mostly just luck of being associated with someone already-famous or being born rich. I think that is actually depressing.

[Cabbage]

Who knows. Theyre rich tho. If only they saw the drama in my life.

[Sci_Girl]

I am going to have to say reality television does more good than bad because it is what people watch and look up to these days. I love to watch Keeping up with the Kardashians. It is one of my favorite shows and everyone in my house also watches it. I think since a lot of people watch it they should give their audience what they want, and we want more Kardashians

A lot of people of a certain demographic. Ask a random person on the street if they watch the Kardashians and see how long it takes for them to laugh and say "haha no I do not watch that". A group of high school kids or certain trophy wives who they themselves think are a Kardashian are the main watching demographic.

They help us and can be educational. They are a reality show. I rather watch a video of someone else's life and how they do things if I am going to sit down and waste my own. I can pick up their ideas and actions from the TV show rather than watching a show like spongebob where all I would learn is to act dumb.

Cute. What education could possibly come from watching a show like the Kardashians? Have a lawyer father represent a high profile case so you do not need to do anything yourself? Spread your legs for a porn magazine to make it big? Those jump out as what they can provide the masses. Or are we talking education like the "chicken of the sea" incident on that Newlyweds reality show with Jessica Simpson years ago?



Overall reality shows are doing much more harm than good. I have worked in post secondary with many first year students, fresh out of high school. Some of them are dumber than a rock. Unable to cope with basic tasks in classes, unable to communicate with other students because they did not get to choose their own groups (too many have temper trantrums over this), unable to understand there is an authority figure in that classroom, unable to just do normal everyday things that you would have learned simply growing up. I have talked to and listend to these students so get an idea of who they are. It's not about the news events of the day or how they can do better in school. It's about the Bachelorette, some show called Apris Ski?, Kardashians, and other garbage meant for the high school kids. It's sad to see really. I cannot say these shows cause this dumbed down behavior but there is a correlation between the efforts of some kids and those who idolize these shows.

[Sci_Girl]

ok this lowkey grandpa

*Grandma

I was in High School 10 years ago, I am not sure what lowkey means other than "in secret".

[chicagocubs2015]

In most cases yes. It lets kids think they can do things they see on these shows and everything will turn out okay.