Reality TV Kids (Duggars and others)

[Smoochie]

What also isn't addressed with Reality TV and what the 'sheeple' of these shows can't see or choose not too, is that the show turns their home into a film set, lights, electrical, boom mikes, camera's, etc. and it's no longer a safe haven, where a child should be able to have private time and live their lives without public scrutiny.

It disrupts 'normal' life and also becomes a travelogue to new places and situations. For the Gosselin's & others, pulled out of school, the Duggars taken away from the dinning table, away from real life, a camera put in their face while filming that week's 'episode', whether they want to or not, sick or healthy, etc. Therefore, not only exploiting what should be their private every day lives at home, but acting 'on script', including multiple takes, for that weeks 'episode' and being filmed for their reactions. They are not playing a character in a movie or TV show, they're portraying themselves, being applauded, criticized, laughed at for their words, behaviour, actions, reactions, meltdowns, while not being protected on set or paid!

Memories of an event are one thing, but the show portrays something else. How confusing it must be not knowing what's real and what's not? I was sick during filming, it was so hot, I was uncomfortable, thirsty, hungry, yet it shows us playing at a park, having a birthday party, maybe I'm wrong... Oh great, now it shows me crying, everyone thinks I'm a brat cause I wasn't having fun at the party!

People can be cruel, how are they supposed to defend themselves in the future to people who preformed opinions based on their, their siblings & their parents lives, good and bad, portrayed on TV? It's easy to say ignore it, but think back to your embarrassing moments and now imagine millions of people saw it and know and you know they know ...

[Cleopatra7]

I am especially afraid for the children who have lived their entire lives in front of the camera. I remember reading that George "Spanky" McFarland from Our Gang/the Little Rascals said that until he was eight, he thought all kids worked in the movies, because he had been working since infancy. At some point, he realized that the way he was living was not normal, however. In the case of the Duggar kids, their minds are already filled with so much nonsense (creationism, stupid gender roles, the theology of the skirt) that growing up in camera will add to their inability to understand the world.

[brokenminded]

Where does a child like Sophia Grace Brownlee fit into this sort of thing. She's not (possibly very recently she may have been) doing paid acting. She's not on reality TV either, but her childhood is being served up for consumption. Her parents are getting gifts, trips and probably ego boosts out of her many trips to the states to film for Ellen and hang out with celebs. I keep thinking if anyone saw me singing and being silly as a small child I'd be so mortified, while she must be having fun, so far, it won't be long till plastic tiaras and tutu's are humiliating and she has 'brand' to keep up. Even more so I feel for her little cousin Rosie who clearly wants to be anywhere but on tv.

[ADoyle90815]

What also isn't addressed with Reality TV and what the 'sheeple' of these shows can't see or choose not too, is that the show turns their home into a film set, lights, electrical, boom mikes, camera's, etc. and it's no longer a safe haven, where a child should be able to have private time and live their lives without public scrutiny.

It disrupts 'normal' life and also becomes a travelogue to new places and situations. For the Gosselin's & others, pulled out of school, the Duggars taken away from the dinning table, away from real life, a camera put in their face while filming that week's 'episode', whether they want to or not, sick or healthy, etc. Therefore, not only exploiting what should be their private every day lives at home, but acting 'on script', including multiple takes, for that weeks 'episode' and being filmed for their reactions. They are not playing a character in a movie or TV show, they're portraying themselves, being applauded, criticized, laughed at for their words, behaviour, actions, reactions, meltdowns, while not being protected on set or paid!

Memories of an event are one thing, but the show portrays something else. How confusing it must be not knowing what's real and what's not? I was sick during filming, it was so hot, I was uncomfortable, thirsty, hungry, yet it shows us playing at a park, having a birthday party, maybe I'm wrong... Oh great, now it shows me crying, everyone thinks I'm a brat cause I wasn't having fun at the party!

People can be cruel, how are they supposed to defend themselves in the future to people who preformed opinions based on their, their siblings & their parents lives, good and bad, portrayed on TV? It's easy to say ignore it, but think back to your embarrassing moments and now imagine millions of people saw it and know and you know they know ...

This. Some who grew up in front of cameras as child actors have ended up addicted to drugs and even ended up in trouble with the law due to their addictions, and in some cases, those people died of overdoses. I hate to say it, but it's likely that some of those reality TV kids could end up in that situation as well.

[Curious]

Where does a child like Sophia Grace Brownlee fit into this sort of thing. She's not (possibly very recently she may have been) doing paid acting. She's not on reality TV either, but her childhood is being served up for consumption. Her parents are getting gifts, trips and probably ego boosts out of her many trips to the states to film for Ellen and hang out with celebs. I keep thinking if anyone saw me singing and being silly as a small child I'd be so mortified, while she must be having fun, so far, it won't be long till plastic tiaras and tutu's are humiliating and she has 'brand' to keep up. Even more so I feel for her little cousin Rosie who clearly wants to be anywhere but on tv.

I think that for someone like Sophia Grace, she may just "age out" of her popularity, for lack of a better term. Part of the reason, she is receiving attention is because she's so young. If an older child was doing what she was, no one would think anything of it. Whether this leads her to acting or not is another question, because if she does get into acting, then she will have protections that are in place for child actors.

I don't think there is enough there for a reality tv show, lacking the protections for her.

Rosie will probably be very thankful when they "age out" ;)

[Curious]

This. Some who grew up in front of cameras as child actors have ended up addicted to drugs and even ended up in trouble with the law due to their addictions, and in some cases, those people died of overdoses. I hate to say it, but it's likely that some of those reality TV kids could end up in that situation as well.

It has been shown time and time again, that one HUGE difference for child stars is the role of the parents. Did they quit their jobs and thus the child(ren) became the sole support of the entire family or did they continue to work their normal jobs and the kids money was either supplementary or put away for the child. Almost all child stars who have had successful transitions to adult actors or who have not gone totally off the rails have had parents that were not relying on their kids to be their meal ticket. Obviously, there are success stories where the child was the sole provider, but they are few and far between.

This is with children that could go home to get away from work for periods of time. We have not seen what happens with children who are BOTH the meal ticket and have no way to get off the "set."

IIRC, in their old house, there were even cameras installed in the Gosselin tups bedroom. Fortunately, they were very young and likely don't remember that, but unfortunately, there is hours of footage that according to their gestational carrier they watch over and over every night. At least there will be plenty of evidence to take to their therapists, as adults.

The thing that worries me for the G8 is that Kate place pretty much ALL their value on filming. She constantly says they miss filming and want to return to filming etc. If they are saying those things, I suspect it's because they have learned that keeps mommy happy and keeping mommy happy is likely paramount in those kids daily life, sadly. As they get older and there is no interest in filming, what is that going to do to their sense of self when Kate puts so much value on it. Are they going to feel like there is something wrong with them, when what is happening is normal and Kate is the abnormal one?

I hope Jon can give them enough sense of normalcy that they "merely" end up with future therapy bills and nothing more tragic.

[RosyDaisy]

Maybe this is because I don't watch TV a lot these days....but, I don't see a lot of reality shows going into re-run syndication like regular TV shows. Reality shows have been around for quite a while now, so why are we not seeing the early reality shows in syndication? This could be a plus for reality TV kids.

[Curious]

Maybe this is because I don't watch TV a lot these days....but, I don't see a lot of reality shows going into re-run syndication like regular TV shows. Reality shows have been around for quite a while now, so why are we not seeing the early reality shows in syndication? This could be a plus for reality TV kids.

I'm not really sure what reality shows that had kids on them like J&K plus 8 there were prior to J&K plus 8. By that, I mean ones that had a lot of kid involvement.

As far as reruns go, J&K+8 and K+8 are still showing in other countries and they are in reruns in the US on TLC (or they were. I don't watch TLC or either of those shows for obvious reasons, so I'm not sure if they are still being played as often as they were or not). The show is also available on DVD and is currently available on netflix streaming.

There are people on Kate's timeline that say they watch the show over and over, so it's probably safe to assume the kids are not going to get away from their childhood of filming at least in the near future.

However, if you look at the impact of reality TV on people in general, there was recently some articles about, I believe, the first season of that MTV show that kind of started "reality tv" (I never watched it so I'm blanking on the name) and it turns out that some of those people had similar problems that you see in child actors. I'll see if I can find the article.

[Coconut Flan]

Maybe this is because I don't watch TV a lot these days....but, I don't see a lot of reality shows going into re-run syndication like regular TV shows. Reality shows have been around for quite a while now, so why are we not seeing the early reality shows in syndication? This could be a plus for reality TV kids.

They don't go into syndication because a station like USA doesn't want to buy them like they will regular network dramas. Syndication means a different network than the producer buys the product. The big networks for reality like TLC own the product and basically them reshowing it is free to them. They would have to make quite a bit of money from the sale for it to be worthwhile and realistically no other network is interested. Selling or licensing the shows overseas is typical of their business model.

[RosyDaisy]

Thanks, y'all it makes sense now, and I completely forgot about DVD and digital downloads.

[formergothardite]

Last night I started to think about all the mommy bloggers who put every little detail of their children's lives out on the internet, and sometimes make money at it. I wonder what the long term consequences for the children will be. Like when they are teens will they have people mocking them over the little things they did as children? This stuff is out there forever. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to have my childhood available for all the internet to see. It would be weird.

[Feberin]

There"s also a distinct possibility these reality show kids may become even bigger famewhores and attention seekers than their parents.

I think that will be the case for some reality TV kids. Overall I think it will be a mixed bag but that we'll see them suffering from a lot of the same issues that affect child actors such as drugs. Even if the shows might not be syndicated they still are rerun from time to time and the children are very well known. And almost worse well known as their actual names. I think a lot of people who got an application from a Alexis Gosselin for a job that wouldn't instantly recognize her as one of the Gosselin sextuplets in a way that people may not recognize a child actor's name.

[Lissa1481]

Last night I started to think about all the mommy bloggers who put every little detail of their children's lives out on the internet, and sometimes make money at it. I wonder what the long term consequences for the children will be. Like when they are teens will they have people mocking them over the little things they did as children? This stuff is out there forever. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to have my childhood available for all the internet to see. It would be weird.

I've always thought of that too. Even what parents post on Facebook could comeback later. One reason I keep mine very private and limited to close friends and family members.

Internet wasn't widely accessible until I was in college. My generation is the generation posting their family lives online, which scares me. We were raised with more common sense than this. Wtf happened?

[Mama Mia]

What also isn't addressed with Reality TV and what the 'sheeple' of these shows can't see or choose not too, is that the show turns their home into a film set, lights, electrical, boom mikes, camera's, etc. and it's no longer a safe haven, where a child should be able to have private time and live their lives without public scrutiny.

It disrupts 'normal' life and also becomes a travelogue to new places and situations. For the Gosselin's & others, pulled out of school, the Duggars taken away from the dinning table, away from real life, a camera put in their face while filming that week's 'episode', whether they want to or not, sick or healthy, etc. Therefore, not only exploiting what should be their private every day lives at home, but acting 'on script', including multiple takes, for that weeks 'episode' and being filmed for their reactions. They are not playing a character in a movie or TV show, they're portraying themselves, being applauded, criticized, laughed at for their words, behaviour, actions, reactions, meltdowns, while not being protected on set or paid!

Memories of an event are one thing, but the show portrays something else. How confusing it must be not knowing what's real and what's not? I was sick during filming, it was so hot, I was uncomfortable, thirsty, hungry, yet it shows us playing at a park, having a birthday party, maybe I'm wrong... Oh great, now it shows me crying, everyone thinks I'm a brat cause I wasn't having fun at the party!

People can be cruel, how are they supposed to defend themselves in the future to people who preformed opinions based on their, their siblings & their parents lives, good and bad, portrayed on TV? It's easy to say ignore it, but think back to your embarrassing moments and now imagine millions of people saw it and know and you know they know ...

It must be so incredibly bizarre for kids who start out on reality TV as infants or toddlers, where that is their entire worldview. The adjustment to normal life after the show ends must be very strange.

[Feberin]

I've always thought of that too. Even what parents post on Facebook could comeback later. One reason I keep mine very private and limited to close friends and family members.

Internet wasn't widely accessible until I was in college. My generation is the generation posting their family lives online, which scares me. We were raised with more common sense than this. Wtf happened?

While I'm sure kids will get teased about stuff parents post on blogs or Facebook I don't think it will be as damaging as reality TV. Most parents have Facebook accounts with far to many posting inappropriate stuff online. I think everyone has had their parents tell some embarrassing stories to friends that somebody overheard. Now it'll just be more embarrassing stories to more friends. But lots of kids will have this issue so they won't be as singled out. I mean if Madison is being teased about the fact that her mother posted a picture of her on her potty it'll only be talked about so long until they move on to the fact that Emma's mother posted that she will just NOT poop on the potty or that picture Jacob's father posted of him wearing a dress.