When Reality TV Involves Children

Commentary Editor

   With the development of reality television we get a view into the staged “reality” and sometimes the truth in a person or person’s life.

   What may have started as a vision into the future with movies such as "Edtv" and "The Truman Show" and talk shows such as “Maury,” “Sally, ” “Jenny Craig” and “Montel,” now spans an entire generation of views which may not look on a person’s actions or the act of talking about themselves as nothing more than something to watch.

    “Reality” TV offers us shows like “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “The Hills” as “real-life” drama. We get to look into the lives of the Duggers in “18 Kids and Counting” and watch  Jon and Kate raise their brood on “Jon and Kate Plus Eight."

   The trend continues with the "Octomom" Nadya Suleman with a show in the works to create a massive scrapbook of images of the lives of her 14 children to age of 18.

    Many parents say they want to give their children the life and experiences they had or did not have, depending on the situation.  I wonder what the small stars of “18 Kids and Counting,” “Jon and Kate Plus Eight” and Suleman’s children will think about having almost every moment of their lives on television from the time they are babies or older to almost adulthood. One reason for being part of a reality show may be the need to take care of the needs of the children by some way or another.

    I’m talking about first words, first steps, first dates, firsts for almost everything, their embarrassing moments and other events the real world might or might not want in the public eye. I know children under 18 have no choice or decision-making choices in many matters, but I am talking what they may feel about the experience of having the whole world know almost everything about them years after.

     What privacy will these children have in the future after the completion of their time on reality TV ends?  The difference between the real world and the people on these reality shows are that the stars of reality, over time, become desensitized to cameras and look upon it as always being there.

    Many people allow the public to look at them, by choice or through publication, on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and other programs, YouTube and other video Web sites on the Internet.  Many people do not want a picture taken of them, much less video footage. Are we so absorbed in other people’s live that we have to watch their every move on the screen, much less live our own lives in front of a box that distorts reality?

   Maybe like child stars and other celebrities before them, they may fade into the background and only be known through released footage on DVD and reruns on television.  I just wonder if they will want the same experience for their children, if the children on these reality show would want to give their children the life they had?

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