Reality TV shows have struck a chord with both American and international viewers since 2002 with the first seasons of American Idol and Survivor.

Although reality TV has been around since 1950, it wasn’t until the transformation into glitz and drama (which Hollywood is known for) that reality television’s popularity skyrocketed.

A common argument in favor of these shows is that they involve real people in unscripted situations, making them far more relatable than fictional characters.

But taking a closer look at a few shows that top the viewing charts, one begins to wonder how much of the previous statement is actually true.

Reality television shows are notorious for casting “every day” people who look like anything BUT someone you could walk by on the street.

America’s Next Top Model claims to look for contestants who are regular people aspiring to be models in a makeover competition.

The problem is, one look at any of the show’s previous contestants reveals how inaccurate this claim is.

Sitting down each week to watch a show about “average” people, who already look like celebrities, competing for model status can be incredibly degrading to the average high school student.

Every man or woman appears as though they stepped right out of a modeling agency.

It’s one thing to follow the work of celebrities who are expected to look above average, but quite another to showcase contestants meant to be audience relatable who set an impossibly high standard for what “average” looks like.

A large percentage of audience members for reality television are teenagers and young adults who can easily fall into self-esteem issues.

Sitting down each week to watch a show about “average” people, who already look like celebrities, competing for model status can be incredibly degrading to the average high school student.

They may have no way of knowing that most contestants begin the show already layered in makeup practically invisible to the viewer’s eye, and that producers have the ability to alter someone’s appearance with the click of a mouse.

Suggesting everyday people have the ability to become stars on reality television can lead to young viewers making incredibly rash decisions.

Shows like Teen Mom sugarcoat the incredibly harsh reality of a teen pregnancy, all the while suggesting that becoming pregnant is an easy way to land a place onscreen.

Teenage girls with low self esteem are easy targets for these television messages, and it can become all too tempting to take drastic measures for a popularity gain.

When these girls fail to land a place on TV, they become faced with the very real struggle of raising a child at such a young age.

Teenage girls aren’t the only victims of bad messages in reality television; shows like Dance Moms and The Bachelor stress the importance of winning and tearing other contestants down.

Their casts are not professional actors who can walk away from a character and scene after each shoot.

Children learn from a young age whether to respect someone who disagrees with them or not, and it’s disturbing to watch the young dancers on Dance Moms learn from their hot-headed mothers how to handle themselves in the heat of an argument.

Shows like these are built on the idea that aggression and cheating will improve ratings.

The tension between the contestants on The Bachelor is what makes for a compelling storyline.

The producers don’t take into account that these are real people experiencing cruelty, not fictional characters.

They create shows without understanding that the outcome is different.

Their casts are not professional actors who can walk away from a character and scene after each shoot.

Far too many reality television shows have ruined well established relationships or have helped to form unhealthy ones.

Show business has long been a difficult place for serious relationships, particularly marriage, because celebrities are afforded such little privacy and respect in their personal life.

Reality television takes this problem to another level, placing married couples in atmospheres that can easily become toxic.

The Bachelor is the perfect example of forcing a romance in a limited amount of time.

The dating process does not normally have the span of a television show season, much less with the notion of dating a large number of people at once.

Compacting such an important process into this format will likely lead to eventual disaster, as many of the couples on the show have shown.

The examples these real life couples and families set for their young viewers are also problematic.

Teenagers witness these actions and assume such treatment is normal for parental or romantic figures.

Just because a couple or family happens to be famous, does not mean their example should be followed.

Noticing the damaging effects reality television has on the world’s youth is an important step to changing this ongoing cycle.

There are a handful that do not have any of the problems described in the above examples and do make an attempt at illustrating the true personalities of its cast.

As a society surrounded by the biased perspective of the media, taking into account that these “real people and situations” may not be so real after all, will allow viewers to distinguish between moral fact and fiction.