Reality TV shows were initially created as way to fulfill one’s need for entertainment, most of them now ranging on various subjects, from finding true love, to styling contests. However, in the pursuit of providing entertainment, those TV shows have the common denominator of excessive drama and scandal, elements that have the remarkable function of completely distorting reality. Because teenagers are a significant part of the audience, their mentality and attitude are relentlessly affected. Therefore, I strongly believe that reality TV shows have more corrosive effects on young people, than they provide entertainment, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the fundamentally unethical message conveyed by reality shows ruthlessly alters teenagers’ mentality and moral principles. In most TV shows, it is presented as acceptable in a society to cheat on one’s partner, to lie even to one’s closest friends, or to make fun on the behalf of other people. Having seen several reality shows, teenagers would believe that those principles are directly applicable in the real society, and as a result, they would hurt others and themselves.

Secondly, teenagers often find themselves going through major changes in terms of attitude and behavior. The cast starring often perpetuates values such as materialism and an idealisation of hard-partying and “celebrity” lifestyle. Moreover, it is suggested across several reality shows that gossiping is a normal part of a female relationship, that it is in girls’ nature to be competitive and unscrupulous with each other in order to achieve their ambitions. As youngsters are consistently trying to mould themselves into what they want to be, they are alarmingly susceptible to imitate this kind of behavior, especially when the characters in the show are famous and influential. In this way, in pursuit of the attention they so arduously crave, teenagers are prone to embrace underage drinking, risky sexual behavior and even engaging in physical altercations.

Admittedly, highly educated children are not easily influenced by those outer temptations. However, it is inevitable that teenagers would fantasize about this fictional world where rules are just a burden to relishing life. In some cases, those thoughts would remain theoretical,but in other cases youngsters would snap and do all the forbidden actions maniacally, despite their educational background.

In conclusion, reality shows have various detrimental effects on young people. Only when parents and teenagers acknowledge the immense implications reality TV shows entail, will this problem be alleviated.