Tue 14 Jul 2009
The Wrap proposes a very interesting question: Reality TV is hard enough on adults but what about kids who don’t have any say so as whether they participate or not?
There’s a scene in “Bruno” where Sacha Baron Cohen holds an audition for the “hottest baby photo shoot ever.” The intent is to reveal how fame-seeking parents will agree to anything — including putting their babies in fast cars without a car seat or next to “dead or dying animals” — to get their toddlers on camera.
It would be astonishing … if it hadn’t already become so common on the small screen. – The Wrap
After watching the antics on shows like “Jon & Kate Plus 8”, “Supernanny,” “Wife Swap,” “Denise Richards — It’s Complicated,” “My Dad Is Better Than Your Dad,” and “Kid Nation”many child-care professionals and even some fans are starting to raise these sort of questions.
(Especially “Jon & Kate Plus 8”)
There’s been no official scientific study on the matter. But when you apply a little horse sense it “doesn’t look good”.
- Some parents have accused “Supernanny” producers of encouraging their kids to act badder for the cameras. on “They left us with children that were more naughty than when they arrived” – Supernanny Parent
- “The Real Housewives of Orange County’s” Gina DeLeon blames the show for her kids getting ” teased and bullied at school”. She also states “… it was not a pleasant or growing experience for them.”
- Pros like Charlie Sheen and Pamela Anderson have deliberately kept their children off their reality TV. Sheen fought and loss to keep his daughters off his Denise Richard’s “It’s Complicated”.
“These shows can open the kids to a level of public scrutiny, of shame and of failure,” states Dr. Drew Pinsky, host of VH-1’s “Celeb Rehab”.
Dr. Pinsky also states:
“Children can’t give informed consent by definition, only the parents can do that — and reality shows generally don’t cast adults who have the highest level of mental health. They are severe narcissists who are obsessed with celebrity.”
Former child star Paul Peterson, of The Donna Reed Show weighs in:
“The permanency of the images of the children potty training, bathing and having temper tantrums on camera will open them up to derision and bullying as they get older….Down the line, once the show is over and the cameras have gone…there will likely be no help for them from predators and others seeking to take advantage of them.”
The Wrap also raises the question on the effect of Reality TV not just on the kids but on the health of the marriage and family in general.
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Paul Peterson:
“No one can act like this is unknown, we have history here…when Danny Bonaduce, who knows the ways of this biz, allowed cameras into his life, it destroyed his marriage. It destroyed the Loud family back in the 1970s. Now it’s destroyed Jon and Kate’s family.”
So Models & Moguls readers…is this issue raised by The Wrap another fruit of middle America’s “We want to look concerned” complex?
Do we all know these shows are bad for the kids, will probably be outlawed in a few years, but watch and enjoy them anyway? (Heh, Heh…not to be snobby but…uh, I don’t watch them.)
Are the shows really bad for the kids? Do the shows really break up marriages or do couples not know how to share those fat show biz checks?
Check out the rest of the article on the Wrap. If you enjoy these shows or if you have a child in show business, then this is something you should think about.
Meanwhile, weigh in with your thoughts in the Comment section below:
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