Indian television’s reality show nightmare
Reality show is the latest craze in Indian television. Every Indian channel you open up contains some kind of reality shows. The worst thing is even small children are now participating in these reality shows and like grown up people, they have to work long hours and often receive harsh comments from the judges which can have serious impacts on them.
Sixteen year old Shinjini Sengupta is an average Indian teenager and she participated in a reality show contest in Bengali television channel. The harsh comments of the judges affected the poor girl so much that she was partially paralyzed. She could not move or speak for several. The picture of the poor traumatized is all over news channel. This incident prompted National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to set up guidelines for TV reality shows. Under these new guidelines children below sixteen years of age will not be allowed to participate in reality shows. The commission also told the show organizers not to reward any cash because very often parents want their children to participate in these shows for monetary gain. The children should be awarded educational bonds or fixed deposits.
Indian Idol first popularized the trend of reality show in Indian television. Now, they are all over. These shows can turn ordinary people into stars overnight. However, the problem is the immense mental pressure can have serious impact especially, on young children.
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