How Does Reality Television Affect the Minds of Young Children

How Does Reality Television Affect The Minds of Young Children?
ENG 122 English Composition II
Larissa Purvis
April 7, 2013

How Does Reality Television Affect The Minds of Young Children? Reality television affects the minds of all who watch it, but has a big effect on children because it inhibits social interaction and it is not always intellectually stimulating. In my research paper, I will explain the lack of activities reality television has on young children, and how reality television causes too much drama. I also will explain how reality television affects the minds of young children. “All children in industrialized parts of the world are exposed to television from birth onward, and they begin paying attention to it quite early. When they are between 2 and 5 years old, they form some basic conceptions about the representational nature of the television medium and begin to understand how the content shown on television is related to events in the real world.” (Wright, Huston, Reitz, & Piemyat 1994) “On average, children watch at least four hours of television a day. By the time they graduate from High School they will have spent more time in front of the television than they have in a classroom. If television is used right it can have an educational value, but too much television portraying improper values can harm children.” (American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2001)
Watching reality television is like being addictive to drugs. Once a children starts to watch one episode they are ready for the next one. It goes on and on. A young child does not realize there are more things to life than to sit in front of a television all day. Reality television can affect a child sleep, grades, and behavior. According to the University of Michigan Health System, “Spending too much time watching TV can take away from the healthy activities like active playing outside with friends, eating dinner together as a family, or reading.”(2010) It is important for young children to interact with their peers because they learn to communicate and learn cognitive and motor skills. Young children that are inside watching reality shows all the time begin to gain excess weight because the lack of activities throughout the day. A young child should be doing homework or studying to increase their knowledge. Young children are watching celebrities’ relationships, how they are living, and how they make everything look so good on reality shows. Some reality television shows are inappropriate for young children such as Love & Hip Hop Atlanta. There are too much gossiping, inappropriate language, and drama. They walk around smoking, cussing and fighting with their housemates. They have multiple tattoos and piercings and show no respect. The men and women have multiple sex partners and sex is openly shown on the show. Love & Hip Hop gives children the idea that it is okay to live like this. “Reality television can add some annoying if not downright dangerous new ideas to kids' imaginations. It also shows kids a distorted view of "reality," since these television programs don't bear much resemblance to the actual reality of daily life.” (Langholt, 2010). It gives the idea that premarital sex, smoking, cussing, fighting, and dressing in a revealing style is normal. There are many video’s floating around the internet of children imitating various characters from this show. Kyla Boyse states, “Media violence can contribute to aggressive behavior, desensitization to violence, nightmares, and fear of being harmed.”(2010) Children should not be introduce to violence behavior because what they see on reality television shows they will think it is alright to do. They are young and act on things they see. With all the inappropriate language than after a while they will be using it. “Reality television can add some annoying if not downright dangerous new ideas to kids' imaginations. It also shows kids a distorted view of reality, since these television programs don't bear much resemblance to the actual reality of daily life.” (Langholt 2010)
Reality television affect young children mind in many ways. Langholt states, “Children are like sponges and they soak up the many things that they see others doing on television, and often repeat what they see on television.”(2010) Some have a favorite celebrity and they want to be just like that individual. Young children see the good of celebrities but not the bad. It is alright to be wanted to be like some of them but not all. Children are looking at the beauty and what they have, but little do they know, they have more problems than normal people. A child does not know that celebrities have on makeup, wigs, and the whole do. Good reality shows for kids are Little People Big World and 19 Kids& Counting. On Little People Big World and 19 Kids & Counting teaches their children how to work for what they want.
In conclusion, reality television shows can cause lack of activities and too much drama. Although reality television affects the minds of young children, and it inhibits social interaction, it can also educate them as well. Children should watch educational channel such as PBS, Nick, and TLC.

Reference
Television and Children. (2010 August). Kyla Boyse, RN. What about Reality TV & Aggressive or Violent Behavior. Retrieved from http://www.med.umiu.edu/Yourchild/topics/tv.htm
Reality TV & Its Influence on Children. (n.d). Thomas Forbes. Retrieved from http://thomasforbes.hubpages.com/hub/RealityTVInfluenceonChildren.html
Wright, J.C., Huston, A.C., Reitz, A.L., & Piemyat, S. Young Children’s PerceptionTelevisionReality. Judges Reality of TV: Taxonomy & Developmental Course. 30,Doi:00121649. Retrieved March 1994, from Ebscohost database