Should children's participation in reality TV shows be banned?
Should children participation in reality TV shows be banned?
Television has become an integral part of today’s life. While print and radio have been the medium of communication since a long time, the emergence of visual medium has transformed the manner in which communication is done to masses. The ability to attract a wider mass of audience through visual medium has led to opening of large number of channels catering to diverse set people and these channels have a plethora of shows to keep them engaged.
Reality TV shows are one of the most trendy parts of the visual medium. These shows not only bring forth people from all kinds of backgrounds but also keep the audiences hooked on to it as they feel that the shows are closer to reality. The chance to showcase talent in front of millions of viewers along with an opportunity to lucrative careers has lured many a people from all parts of the country.
But, one of the trends which have raised serious concerns is children being a vital part of these shows. While it does give children exposure to a huge platform to perform as well as acquaint them with the industry they would like to be a part of in future, a serious question mark is on their health as well as education.
Childhood is the time of innocence and also when they focus on gaining good education as well as healthy nutrition make them ready to face the world when grow up. However, the changing trends have made many children vie for the reality shows to not only demonstrate talent but also make money and fame.
The pressure to perform along with long and grueling hours of practice sucks the life out of the kids too early. In fact, some shows have witnessed children as young as five or six imitating acts of movies that may be harm their mental development. Besides this, the criticism that children may face from judges on the show may impact them as children’s minds may not be mature to handle rejections. Parents have a vital role to play in all circumstances as through the children they look at fulfillment of some of their incomplete needs. In the process, they don’t realize that their children are the
Various activist movements have already started lodging complaints against various channels for exploitation of children and akin to being child labour. Children should be banned from participating in reality TV shows as it impacts their holistic growth.
The craze of reality TV may have caught on but what needs to be ensured is that stress should be laid on providing them sound education instead of subjecting them to mental and physical stress.
Discussion
- RE: Should children's participation in reality TV shows be banned? -muskan kanava (04/25/16)
- thank u so much was really helpful..great ideas too
- Should children's participation in reality TV shows be banned? -Rishika Jalan (03/27/14)
Should children participation in reality TV shows be banned?
Nowadays, we see a great number of reality shows being hosted on the television. These shows have managed to gain a lot of popularity and fame and are doing really good. Many of them have encouraged children participation. They have got immense positive response from this and have excelled in this field. But contrary to this is a harsh reality that these reality shows have a lot of negative and adverse impact on the children both mentally and physically. Not realizing the hazardous effects of it on the children, parents are encouraging their kids to participate in these shows and win the first prize. But unfortunately, the pressure associated with it is immense and has proved fatal in many cases.
Mental pressure
These reality shows pose a lot of stress on the minds of the children. The pressure to perform well and win the first prize is immense and leads to deterioration of their health. They start getting inferiority complex from others doing well and receiving compliments and develop this feeling of jealousy within their friend circle.
The harsh comments of the judges are too much for the little ones to handle. They cannot take that amount of criticism on a public platform. On top of this the pressure from their parents adds more to it. Kids are not matured enough to handle failure and all these result in a serious mental block within with them.
Exposure to the adult world
Many a times, these children participating in reality shows are exposed to adult humor and conversations. They are often required to perform on adult “item number” dance songs which have a negative impact not only on them but also on the other children watching the program. Girls between the age of 5- 7 imitate those sexy iconic figures, and are often abused by their male mentors indirectly. This reason is alone good enough for the parent to understand the adverse impacts of these shows on their children.
Physical exhaustion
These reality shows demand a lot of practice and time from the children. This in turn leads to children being physically stressed out and they often even collapse. The long hours of rehearsal drains all the energy from them.
The long hours put in practice takes away the time for studies from a child. He does not get sufficient time to study and because of physical stress he cannot even focus and concentrate. This hampers his education background and results in low grades. Children are found compromising on their homework and assignments due to this, which is definitely not appreciated.
Because of all the reason cited above, it is mandatory to ban the participation of children in reality shows. Parents who have made their kids a money making machine should realize that this is not their age to do all this. A little bit of such exposure can have a huge impact on their life and as their guardians they should be responsible for it.
