almost everyone can admit to watching reality television at least once. the exaggerated human emotion appeals to our natural curiosity. but what happens when kids are involved in the shows? on the fox series "trading spouses", two very different families (like a farming family and a rich mannhattan high rise family) trade husbands or wives and the whole experience is caught on tape. the producers, obviously, pick the most different and incompatible families to switch because it makes for a more interesting show. but what about the kids in the family? can you imagine if some strange woman you'd never met, who was the complete opposite of your real mom, moved in and started changing stuff? now can you imagine if that had happened when you were seven years old? these children are in their formative years, and an experience like that could change them forever. i think that if adults want to involve themselves in such stupid plots for their fifteen minutes of fame, then so be it. but children can't say no. they don't have a say, and its not fair to them.

poor kids that dont get large sums of money? Weren't you just saying how they were being greedy for wanting it? Nothing like contradicting yourself.

Reality shows are the worst things that ever came to national television. A bunch of dumb *** "adults" doing things that they would never do in real life, unless they were fighting for money. this is so greedy! people really need to open their eyes and see what the hell they are doing. these shows **** me off, and what is even worse than making yourself a *******, is putting your kids into that mess. yah, they get money on this "trading spouses", but they dont get to pick what they spend it on. some other dum adult makes it up for you, and sometimes the kids get so jipped, they probably want to just go insane! like the one episode where the one mom gave the kids a thou. each, and then the other kids got like 2 dollars a WEEK for allowance! BS. thats all i have to say.. BS. poor kids....
Jessica

That was supposed to be a joke, but I guess it i hard to transmit tone through the Internet.

People are jackasses anyways. They don't need TV for that.

As for people acting under 18. Let them do what they want. You cannot seriously be proposing that there would be no child actors. That would halt movie production and television as well. That was a dumb thing to say. There is nothing wrong weith acting as a child. many stay out of public eye anyways. And being followed by thje paparatzi is what they get in exchange for the large amounts of money. It's a lifestyle choice. you do not have to deal with it, so if they were really unhappy with it, they would have chosen to do something else.

Mind you, money drives a lot of things in this world. Many people will NEVER see 1 million dollars in their pocket at a time. Nobody will ever be able to make a million dollars on federal minimum wage. Don't kill me for saying this but money is a justifiable reason for making a "jack [fill in the blank] (Not quite sure if we have the liberty to use those kinds of words here.)" out of yourself especially when money is so hard to make. But I personally wouldn't take that road.

I think Reality shows are stupid in the first place. Anyone who would be so desperate to be on TV or make that money that they would embarass themselves so badly is on my bad side anyway.

I do think it hurts kids, but not in the "Scarred because of a week" thing. The message by participating in these shows is that money and/or fame takes precedence over your pride. Its like telling the kid "Well, its okay to go out and make a jackass of yourself as long as you have a shot at a cool 1 mil and you get lots of TV time!".

I agree with you Yogore, but you cannot deny that this sounds like a far left thing to say.

I personally want to extend this issue to cover all actors and actresses under 18. I feel they are all emotionally, physically, and mentally scarred for the rest of their life. Of course, the duration of their career is many folds the duration of a reality show, thus the impact on their formative years should be many times more devestating than some teenager appearing on a reality show for a week. Given that an actor has to suffer through the intrusive eyes of paparazzis and the permanent loss of anonymity, I think it is fair to assume that all minor actors and actresses are doomed forever.

Oh, and I think we should eradicate summer camps. They remove children in their formative years from the precarious guidance of their parents for an extensive length of one week ranging all the way to months, a definite atrocity, wouldn't you agree?

BS, please do not confuse this with being liberal! I agree with you on this topic. These shows do nothing wrong. It's like having ababysitter, and I doubt anyone believes this is scarring. It's not harmful for kids to experiance change for a week. If you've seen the show, you'd know the kids aren't scarred by it and sometimes, you can tell they've grown.

quote:

can you imagine if some strange woman you'd never met, who was the complete opposite of your real mom, moved in and started changing stuff? now can you imagine if that had happened when you were seven years old? these children are in their formative years, and an experience like that could change them forever. i think that if adults want to involve themselves in such stupid plots for their fifteen minutes of fame, then so be it. but children can't say no. they don't have a say, and its not fair to them.

Sigh... This is a completely idiotic topic. I DO NOT think that they will be scarred for life due to a week long experience on a television show. They aren't left with two parent who they don't know, their dad or mom stays with them for the show. It is also a week not 15 yrs. I really think that this may be a joke because it is so stupid. I knew you were a little liberal purple, but this is too far, even for you.

quote:

Whatever.. No, I haven't seen the show... but the fact that it is about adults trading spouses really is a bad influence to kids..

How is it possibel to be a bad influence to show you kid how other people live? Its not like they are promoting sex, kissing or even the hugging of the parents. to everyone who hasnt seen this show watch it before you comment! It may just change your mind!

I honestly dont think these shows hurt the kids.. If the parents are smart enough to be able and sit down and talk to them.

I watched a Wifeswap show where two families, as opposite as could be, switched the moms. Interesting enough, by the end of the show, it seemed as if both families had changed for the better. One mom had started to get rid of her clutter because the kids had said that they wanted to, and the other mom had actually started listening to her daughter... How is that harming them?

quote:

If reality shows are too violent, then it hurts the kids.... Letting them watch those can promote bad influence to them.

The shows in question aren't violent. Nanny 911, Trading spouces - no violence.

how is it promoting a bad influence? it's just like having a nanny or a babysitter.

quote:

Whatever.. No, I haven't seen the show... but the fact that it is about adults trading spouses really is a bad influence to kids..

you cannot judge a show you haven't seen. It's not actually trading spouces. It's liek having a babysitter. It annoys me that you cannot understand your lack of knowledge on this subject.

quote:

Those reality shows do not hurt kids.

If reality shows are too violent, then it hurts the kids.... Letting them watch those can promote bad influence to them.

quote:

Have you seen the show? They don't have sex. it's just like having an adult sleep over. They don't even sleep in the same bed.

it won't hurt kids for a parent to be gone for a week and have someone else watch them. Child labor? How is having cameras around labor?

Whatever.. No, I haven't seen the show... but the fact that it is about adults trading spouses really is a bad influence to kids..

I could see if this was about fear factor, but it doesn't seem to be.

Those reality shows do not hurt kids. If anything Supernanny or whatever it is called teaches kids some respect and manners. Those reality shows are probably just fake anyway.

Yeah If it was me I'd be like F this im leaving and just spend a week at my friends house.