Jeff Lass
Com 450
TED Speech
A False Reality
INTRO
Television, almost all of us watch it. Some of don’t care, some us are glued to the TV
watching every second of all of our favorite episodes. We watch TV to escape, escape knowing
that what we see is mostly not true. People who don’t realize that most of television is not
true…are kids. One of the main reasons why that is, is reality television. As adults we know what
is real and what is not, but a kid… a kid will believe anything you tell them. They don’t know
any better. Sex…drugs…violence; these are at the core of reality television today. Most of the
reality television shows today portray all three of those things. And with the technology in
today’s world… it is a lot harder to try and hide kids from those things. It’s no longer as simple
as to put a parental lock on certain channels or blocking a website and be done. Kids are learning
that the fantasy’s being portrayed on TV…are “real life” … but it is far from it. As much as the
shows are aimed toward an older audience, kids are watching these shows more and more every
year, and the shows are not getting better. My new favorite reality TV show is called “All My
Babies Momma’s.” It features one man who has fathered 11 kids with 10 different women and
has a 19 year old girlfriend as well. It’s really compelling stuff.
This has become a growing problem over the past several years. I know this because I
have coached and directed summer sports camps for kids over the past 8 summers of my life…I
see the changes in these kids every year. Today, I am going to focus on three things. 1…How
and why reality TV became so popular; 2…some moments that I have experienced over the past
8 summers of coaching that truly made me believe that reality television is having a negative
impact on the youth, and 3… give you a look into the future of what will happen if reality TV
continues down this path and there is no change.
MAIN POINT #1
One of the main reasons reality television has become so popular is because of money.
Reality shows not only cost a ridiculously amount less than actual TV shows, but they are much
easier to film overall as well. The first very successful reality television show aired in 1992 on
MTV. It was called, “The Real World.” There was an idea behind the thought of putting a bunch
of young strangers in a house together, and giving them jobs…and what they did at clubs inbetween would make for entertaining TV…turned out to be a huge success for some reason, it is
going to have its 28th season this year. With the success of, “The Real World” other networks
decided to give it a shot. Shows that are still going today such as, “Survivor, American Idol, and
The Bachelor” have paved the way for what reality television has become. Can we even call it
reality television though? NBCNEWS.COM reported that “Teen Mom” star Amber is paid
$280,000 dollars each season. Also, last season’s “Bachelorette” Emily was paid $250,000
dollars. So can you really believe that the network has no influence on what happens in the
show? You may not believe all “reality TV” is fake, but you cannot argue that most of it is
scripted. We realize this, but kids do not.
TRANSITION
I know these shows are negatively affecting the way kids communicate, because I see it
firsthand. Girl Scout Research Institute surveyed girls from 11 to 17 who watch reality television
and found more than 75% of girls agreed to the following statements, A) You have to lie to get
what you want. B) You must be mean to get what you want. And C) Being mean earns you more
respect than being nice. I have a couple of stories that I am going to share with you that are going
to make you realize that this having a huge impact on kids.
MAIN POINT #2
My first story happened this past summer where there was an altercation between an 8
year old brother and his 10 year old sister. They had been fighting throughout the day and it
finally got to the point where the boy threw a baseball at his sister. I went to the girl first and
made sure she was ok and asked her what happened, she responded by saying, “The fool hit me
with a ball.” I walked away laughing under my breath and approached the brother who threw the
ball, I asked him what happened. He responded, no joke…”Coach…Bitch was tripping.”
WHAT?!?! MIND BLOWN!!! An innocent 8 year old child was saying this to me, I asked him
where he heard that, I was expecting from a friend or at school. He told me he heard it on Jersey
Shore. I was blown away. Now I know where the sister heard what she just said.
My next story is hands down my favorite story I’ve ever had in history of working at
sports camps. I don’t know if many of you know where Garfield Community Center is, but it is
near where I went to high school and it is not the wealthiest of neighborhoods. The camps we do
there are actually free to anyone who shows up, it is usually our biggest camp of the year,
hundreds of kids show up. It was my first year ever working, we usually have kids as old as 14
attend camps and as young as 5 or 6 come too. I was coaching a group of kids from 5 years old
to 10. We were playing a basketball game called bump, there’s one line and everyone goes after
the next person. A 10 year old boy decides he’s better than everyone and cuts the line at what he
thought would be the weakest spot. He was completely wrong; he cut an adorable 6 year old girl
who looked like she wouldn’t hurt a fly. No joke, she grabbed him on the shoulder, physically
turned him around and punched him square in the face with a nasty right hook. He dropped so
fast I would have thought Mike Tyson knocked him out. And of course the girl, the cute adorable
innocent little girl grabs her basketball and says, “I bet you won’t ever do that again!” I was
stunned! Can you imagine if your daughter did that at 6 years old?
TRANSITION
Can you imagine if you did that if you were 6 years old?
MAIN POINT #3
I want you to remember back when you were a kid, what were you watching on TV?
Mostly cartoons right? Cartoons like Doug, Hey Arnold, Rocket Power if you were really cool.
Was there anything such as Jersey Shore, or Teen Mom, or True Life…NO. We had classics
growing up, shows like Saved By the Bell, and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Boy Meets World! …
And of course who could forget the original cast of All That.
I want you to imagine it’s the future. You have a 5 year old daughter and a 7 year old son.
They wake up on a nice Saturday morning; they ask nicely if they could go watch television.
You’re thinking to yourself of course, go ahead and watch some Saturday morning cartoons, I’ll
come make you guys breakfast in a second. You head out to the living room to find your 5 year
old daughter watching Teen Mom saying things like, I can’t wait to grow up and have a baby.
Then you see your 7 year old son out on the deck trying to get his tan on so he looks like the
cartoon characters on Jersey Shore. Does anybody really want that for their kids?
Now imagine it’s a better future, a future where your daughter doesn’t know what GTL
stands for, and your son isn’t saying things like, “Dad, what’s a grenade whistle?” No, this is a
better future, one with a censor on what is put on TV … A future where a TV network doesn’t
continue on a series just to make more money… A future where reality television isn’t scripted
to keep the ratings up… And a future where are kids aren’t being influenced to believe that
everything they see on TV is real.
TRANSITION
I believe we can get to this future if we pay attention to what is actually being put on TV
these days and realize that is not something we should be proud of.
CONCLUSION
Overall, I’ve talked to you about why reality television became popular. I shared personal
stories with you that proved reality television is having a negative effect on kids. And I gave you
a glimpse into the future of what could happen. I have been coaching kids of all ages for over 8
years. It has been an experience that I hope to continue on doing in my life because I love what I
do. I care about these kids and want them to be successful. I don’t want them going down the
wrong road… and it starts by helping kids realize that what is shown on TV today …is a false
reality.