'Early' Takes Closer Look at Reality TV Study (VIDEO)
'Jersey Shore,' 'Bad Girls' Club' and 'The Hills' are incredibly popular reality shows, but what do they teach the young girls who watch them? 'Early' (weekdays, 7AM ET on CBS) correspondent Michelle Miller examined a survey done by The Girls Scout Research Institute, that concluded reality TV was harmful to teenage girls.Miller interviewed high school students and educators in an attempt to get some first-hand perspective on the study. "You cringe at what they're laughing at or what they think was funny or okay," said Mark Otto, Assistant Principal of The Facing History High School in New York, where they use reality TV as cautionary tale. Stephanie Diaz, a senior at the high school, gave Miller her view of the shows. "You're a woman and you could be strong. You could be the best of the best of everything and you show people the worst part of you," she said.
Julie Ross, MA, the Executive Director of Parenting Horizons, had a very logical formula for countering the effects of media on children. "We have to spend more time with our children than they spend with the TV," she said. She also recommended education for parents as well, observing that a common problem with parents is that "they go into being a parent without really educating themselves on how to do that ... They think 'I'll be able to do it through instinct,' but that's not the case."
Reality TV History: The Beginning
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