As said by Georgia Jagger “Reality TV rots people’s brains(Twitter).”  Reality TV results in children and teens becoming sexist or believing in stereotypes. Reality TV ruins common morals and causes children and teens to act as the actors in the show. Parents should monitor the number of hours their children watch reality TV.

Watching reality TV creates the basis of delusions and dangerous stereotypes for the impressionable. When watching reality shows, children start to believe what they see on television is what can happen in real life, especially when the genre of the show is reality. Reality TV creates the belief that “It’s in a girl’s nature to be catty and competitive”(Girl Scouts) as shown in a study conducted by the Girl Scout Research Institute. In a way, the belief will cause girls to behave catty and competitive. Research concludes “many girls think these programs reflect reality, with… 50% saying that real-life shows are “mainly real and unscripted”(Girl Scouts).This influences the way children and teenagers think, resulting in them believing that females are ill-natured creatures. Shows like Dance Moms, The Bachelor, The Real Housewives and more, encourage betrayal among others.The shows display grown adults acting in an atrocious manner impinging on young females. Not to mention. reality TV may cause young girls to believe they need to resort to plastic surgery in adulthood to be favored by society. Shows from Keeping up with the Kardashians to The Real Housewives focus on appearances(R.T.I.) The television shows are resulting in the notions that happiness and wealthiness is obtained by beauty(R.T.I.) These notions start at a young age from watching the television shows;or, children seeing their parents enticed by the shows.

Reality TV plays into stereotypical beliefs. West Virginia Senator, Joe Manchin, says that Buckwild, a reality TV show, “plays to ugly, inaccurate stereotypes”(Zissou). With Buckwild being set in West Virginia, it feeds into the belief that  all West Virginians are hillbillies or rednecks. In addition to Manchin’s hatred with stereotypes of reality TV, Anita McGahee, a Georgian that own a business near Honey Boo Boo’s home, says the show “depicts locals as uneducated and rude”(Zissou) and “it bothers me a little that people think that that’s everyone here is like”(Zissou).  Reality TV is directed  towards subjects that may seem funny to people, but does not concern itself with the fact it could hurt someone else. Children watching these television shows will repeat what they hear. 

What might happen when someone is West Virginian or Georgian? What happens is that reality Tv watchers believe that those people are uneducated, and they start to harass the “uneducated.” Reality Tv contains racial profiling and stereotypes. Shows like The Bachelor focus on only white couple(Reality.) The Bachelor has mostly white males and rarely depicts woman of color. One example of racial profiling on The Bachelor, was when Christopher Johnson and Nathaniel Claybrook auditioned for the show but were denied based on their skin color(Reality.) The two men filed a lawsuit against the shows producers but the ruling was that the producers’ were protected by the first amendment. Racial issues arise from what the television projects;so, children believe what is shown and heard as children are easily influenced.

Parents should limit and monitor the hours their children watch reality TV. As shown by studies watching reality TV results in stereotypical ideals, and the fact that young women will eventually want to proceed with cosmetic surgery. By limiting the hours children watch reality television,they, will not be as influenced as much as children that watch reality television constantly.

Reality Tv causes racial issues, sexism, terrible morality and deceitfulness. All of these things affect a child's young mind. Twisting and distorting the truth is common in the reality television world. When looking for a good entertainment show for the family, would you chose a reality television show that will unconsciously shape the minds of tomorrow?