Today, television and alcohol go hand in hand more often than not. Although one might argue that there is evidence of commercials and advertisements that warn against underage drinking and drug use; flip the channel and there on the screen are a group of underage teenagers/legal adults laughing and consuming alcoholic beverages. What message exactly are we sending to young people today? It is evident to me that we are sending conflicting messages to the youth of America.

On the one hand, we are told to stay away from drugs at all cost, and on the other hand we are encouraged by the images we see on television to go drink, smoke and use drugs in order to be, for lack of a better word, “cool.”

The recent interest in reality TV has hugely increased; however, reality TV often depicts individuals consuming large quantities of alcohol for fun. MTV and VH1 are two television networks that endorse these reality shows that, in essence, glorify alcohol use. When is it enough? I watch these shows with disgust, realizing the number of teenagers who spend hours mindlessly watching these shows that so clearly glorify “partying.”

How do we make up for this? We have currently developed, in my mind, frightening commercials that tell the youth of America that alcohol and drugs kill. Is that the answer-scare our adolescents out of using alcohol and drugs? I suggest we find a medium. Television networks need to censor the insanity that is broadcasted on reality TV, while modestly developing shows that demonstrate a life beyond drinking.

Reality television is sending the message that leading a “rock star” life is the best life. It is outrageous to me that television networks would rather glorify individuals drinking and using drugs, rather than glorify young adults making a positive difference in the world. Unfortunately, watching a student study hard will not result in high television ratings. In the past year alone, some of the highest ratings have gone to reality shows centered on the use of drugs and alcohol like “I Love New York,” “Rock of Love,” “The Real World,” “The Hills” and “Breaking Bonaduce.” In fact, the first season of “Breaking Bonaduce” helped VH1 increase its prime-time ratings in 2005, according to a recent article in The New York Times.

Furthermore, Jeremy W. Peters published an article in the New York Times on Oct. 8, 2007 reporting that in the case of reality TV shows like “The Real World” and “Road Rules” on MTV, producers can be witnesses to crimes, but that sometimes the crimes they film are relatively minor, like underage drinking. What? Drinking, let alone underage drinking, is not something minor, but is a huge problem we are facing today. The bottom line is that there needs to be more time and effort spent on censoring the television shows that are all too accessible to the youth of America, the future of America.

Cadi is a graduate student in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work. Cadi can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].

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