Endangerment

Only in America can a child make $3,000.00 an episode by being on a reality television show. Supposedly, Mason Disick--son of Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick--makes that amount of money an episode for being on the popular E! television show, "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" and their popular spin-off shows and specials: the televised weddings(?). This information is unsubstantiated because I have read it on several blogs but it's not like I'm filing little Mason's W-2s, so I do not know if it is true, but it seems plausible in a culture that is obsessed with fame and celebrity.

This, and additional reasons, is why American children rank fame as their number one priority. Sadly, and apparently, intelligence is greatly lacking. To be smart, would be defiant in the contemporary. It is the antithesis of the prior generations' emphasis on education. This widens the gap between the rich and poor, but most importantly, it is advantageous to the countries who continue to study: Africa, China, India and other societies that were once continuously in the media for being the recipients of jobs being outsourced.

The Bread and Circus--as true today as at the time of the height of the Roman Empire. What is not occurring, however, is the modernization of society. The economy is stagnant. The gap between the rich and poor is worsening and everyone in the world thinks they will become famous. That is a dangerous situation.

Allowing children to be on reality shows, in my opinion, should be considered child endangerment. Children are the most honest beings in the universe. They cannot control their public image. It is unfair that the parents can exploit their children for financial gain. The reality stars can disclose at their own discretion, but children act of impulse and emotion. Movie stars used to shun negative publicity. They would often shield their face when in public and their personal lives were maintained in order to not distract from their work and to maintain their personal privacy--despite being public figures. It is sad that some children will grow up with cameras, mics and lights surrounding them. These children are not contributing to the craft of acting; these children are having their childhoods stolen by the commoditization and capitalization of their privacy. These children should emancipate themselves from their parents as soon as they are cognizant enough to discover how litigious this society is and in order to reclaim every cent that their parents forced them into making.