Television Reality Show And Its Effect On The Moral And Social Life Of Adolescents

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

According to Andrejevic (2008), television is a popular and an extremely good means of disseminating information that has a significant impact on people"s lives all over the world. For many people, television is a major source of information and entertainment. It gives them the chance to see people, places, and things they may not have seen before. Television affects the society"s perspective of the globe in an increasingly global culture.

A reality show is a television program that tries to depict how regular people act in everyday life or in settings that are frequently contrived by the show"s creators and are meant to reflect normal life. A reality show may also be described as a television show in which regular people or celebrities are recorded going about their daily lives or doing specific activities. It"s worth noting that most reality television shows have a significant impact on the most vulnerable group of people, adolescents (Andrejevic, 2008).

Vijaykumar (2012) cites the World Health Organization (WHO) as defining an adolescent as someone between the ages of 10 and 19. Adolescence is also defined as a period of growth and development that occurs between childhood and maturity. This is the age at which a young boy or girl becomes an adult.

Adolescents begin to use abstract thinking to explain their actions as early as adolescence. Post-conventional morality is based on self-selected ethical concepts that are typically broad and universal, such as justice, dignity, and equality Mckay (2010). Vijaykumar (2012) noted that adolescents easily align or identify with their culture, to the things they see at home and around them, in school and in the media. These observations affects their moral reasoning and moral behavior. When children are younger, their family, culture, and religion greatly influence their moral decision-making. During the early adolescent period, teenage pressure have a greater influence than we really care to accept.

Socially, adolescence is the time the young adults look to identify with people they perceive to be friendly, trustworthy and reliable. At this point in life, some adolescents tend to withdraw from their parents, feel a sense of belonging with certain people and easily accept or adapt to things frequently shown to them.

Reality television is a huge part of television viewing culture. It may be clear to many adults that not all is "real" in the world of reality TV but not for most of the adolescents and teenagers.

1.2 Statement of the Study

Unfortunately some adolescents have life experiences that may interfere with their moral development and reality television helps to bring it closer to them.

Reality television shows really does affect their attitudes, beliefs, self-image and behavior. Vijaykumar in 2012 expressed that this is a huge concern because in most of the Reality Television shows aired, the common themes are usually sex appeal, physical beauty, excessive and aggressive partying, materialism, lack of focus on important things, aggression, bullying etc. This is because at this time of their lives, their friends are the closest people to them and the urge to impress and "feel among" is very strong.

However, how does the most vulnerable class of people which are the adolescents understand the world of reality TV? What could reality TV be teaching adolescent boys and girls, in particular, about what is valued intentional morality. Hence, necessitate this study.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of the study is to analyse the effects of of television reality shows on the moral and social life of adolescents. Other aims of this study are;

To identify the effects of television reality show on the moral and social life of adolescents.

To see the extent reality television show has affected the moral and social life of adolescents.

To identify the necessary steps to curb the effects of the use of social media on the moral and social life of adolescents.

1.4 Research Questions

The questions to guide this research are;

What are the effects of television reality show on the moral and social life of adolescents?

To what extent has reality television show affected the moral and social life of adolescents?

What are the necessary steps to curb the effects of the use of social media on the moral and social life of adolescents?

1.5 Scope of the Study

This study focuses on identifying the effects of Reality Television shows on adolescents morally and socially. It will also find out the extent to which these effects have affected adolescents morally and socially in Benue State.

This research will further look the impacts and the areas of concern that adolescents are likely to encounter on their social and moral life as a result of watching reality television show.

This research will be carried out in the capital city of Benue State which is Makurdi. Adolescents of selected secondary schools in Makurdi shall serve as enrolled participants for this study.

1.6 Limitations of the Study

This study was done and carried out only in the capital city of Benue State and as such the results of this research cannot be used in any other area of Benue State nor in Nigeria as a whole as the effects and problems faced by adolescents in their moral and social lives due to watching reality television shows differ due to geographical position, cultural belief and social tendencies.

This study will only be focusing on adolescents and no other class of people.

1.6 Significance of the Study

This study will be of immense help to the parents and caregivers of adolescents as they will be able to find out how and why reality television shows are affecting their wards socially and morally.

This research will also help television regulators to effect changes where necessary and to put laws in place that will help curtail the excesses of reality television shows and its negative effects on the adolescents.

Furthermore, this study will also help for easy understanding changes seen or observed in adolescents as a result of watching reality television shows.

This study will also add to existing literature on this study domain and shall serve as a reference material to scholars, researchers an students who may wish to carry out further study on this topic or related area.

1.7 Definition of Terms

Moral:

This can be defined as being concerned with the principles of right and wrong behaviour. It can also be said to be holding high principles for moral conduct.

Effect:

This is a change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

Social Life:

It is the part of a person"s time spent doing enjoyable things with others

Moral Life:

Concerned with or relating to human behaviour, the distinction between good and bad or right and wrong behaviour.

Television:

A piece of electrical equipment with a screen on which you can watch programme with moving pictures and sounds.

Summary, Conclusion and Recommendation

5.1 Summary

This study focuses on identifying the effects of Reality Television shows on adolescents morally and socially. It will also find out the extent to which these effects have affected adolescents morally and socially in Benue State. More so, the necessary steps to curb the effects of the use of social media on the moral and social life of adolescents.

Survey research design was employed for the study and with aid of convenient sampling two hundred and twelve (212) participant from who are parents and adolescent in Makurdi was selected as the respondent of the study. The sources of data collection was both primary and secondary with the application of questionnaires as an instrument to gather the necessary data. The questionnaires were properly completed as well returned by only 200 respondent after being administered. Data was analyzed using simple percentage presented in frequencies and tables.

5.2 Conclusions

Television is globally, a popular and powerful medium that both imitates and influences culture. For many people, television is a primary source of information and entertainment. It provides opportunity to view people, places, and things that people may not have experienced firsthand. In an increasingly global society, television shapes society"s perception of the world. Reality television creates interesting concepts and innovative ideas that made them stand out from the regular shows. With the worldwide small screen sector coming up with new concepts for reality shows, India too is in the race to project good and original concepts (Vijaykumar, 2012). Every day on television, some new reality shows are being introduced, enabling the viewers to choose from a large menu of shows. Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded like that of Big Brother Naija.

Based on the findings of this study, the researcher made the following conclusion.

The viewership level of Big Brother Naija show by adolescent in Makurdi is high.

Big Brother Naija TV show has a negative impact on adolescent in Makurdi.

The real life encounters experienced by the students through their exposure to the reality TV show includes: loose of morals, displays of uninhibited sexual frolics, ear-tingling, Use of swear words, indecent dressing systems.

Censoring and controlling the choice of channel adolescent view are basic ways to curb the effect of reality show on adolsesce nt

5.4 Recommendations

The study recommends as follows:

Regulatory bodies like the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporations (NBC) should ensure there is proper screening of reality TV shows before being transmitted for public view.

Parents should endeavor to control the choice of shows they expose their views to, with the understanding of the fact that bad reality shows have negative impact. This will go a long way to save adolescents from running into negative consequences of the effect of bad reality show.

Reality television shows should be directed towards improving the image of our culture, moral and social values.

Since there is good viewership for Reality shows amongst the adolescent, it therefore advisable to make these shows less controversial and drama based, rather it should be centered on discovering raw/real talent (talent hunt).

Reality show concepts should be based on information, science, sports and religion plus the entertainment and celebrity factor, which do not alter the moral values and sentiments of the viewers but rather impact knowledge and inculcate cultural and customary practices.

Emphasis should be made to censor every episode of reality show by the National Film and Censors Board

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