The Instigator

Con (against)

Winning

6 Points

The Contender

Pro (for)

samantha0331

Losing

3 Points

Reality shows should be banned

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after 3 votes the winner is...

poppinoffgrounds

Started:	7/12/2012	Category:	Entertainment
Updated:	10 months ago	Status:	Post Voting Period
Viewed:	1,014 times	Debate No:	24694

Debate Rounds (3)

Comments (1)

Votes (3)

Con I don't see any reasons as to why reality shows should be banned (ri). If you are going to ban reality shows, why wouldn't you ban other shows? (s) If you ban reality shows, why not ban talk shows? (s) The purpose of reality shows is to provide a new avenue of entertainment (ep), would you want to stifle creativity by banning such shows? (em) Report this Argument Pro Reality TV shows should be banned (ri) These shows that are on TV today simply allow young children and teens to think it is okay to act a certain way (s) Take the show Jersey Shore for instance, this show is made up of " Italians" who go out every night, get drunk, get arrested and cause fights. (s) This is not something that should be allowed on television for young children and teens to see. (c) Report this Argument
Con I understand your claim that these shows may display bad behavior (ri). However, (q) I don't think supporting the ban with the concern for children necessarily gives reason to ban them (s); there are further considerations required (ri), for example, are children the only audience? (s)--second, is it the case taht seeing bad behavior has a negative impact? (s/ec?)--I think reality shows provide an excellent resource (ri), to see why people shouldn't act in those ways (ep). However (q), I realize that you may not agree (ri), because you may say that only those who judge for themselves are able to see that this is bad behavior (s), and, perhaps, that they are good people for not being that way (ri); but the risk is worth it. Report this Argument Pro Banning these shows will remove any negative impact they might have on young teens who are watching them (ri). Young teens are a majority of the people who are watching these shows (q). Seeing bad behavior could in fact have a negative impact (s) the audience who is watching these shows can see how "famous" they can become off of being Italian, cursing, drinking and partying every night (s) These shows are not a good influence on viewers (c) Report this Argument
Con Firstly, (ri) I'd like my opponent to consider whether or not she has evidence supporting the claim about the majority demographic. Secondly, (ri) my opponent puts forth a weak claim by saying the bad behavior "could" have an impact; (q/ri) I don't see how you determine this, there is no account of the cause of bad behavior (s), and this is my opponent's bop. Thirdly, (ri) I'd like to maintain my earlier claim that banning reality television shows would provoke a serious burden because (s) my opponent has not explained why these shows are the single target of her argument. Fourthly, but new to our argument, (ri) my opponent hasn't provided reason to think reality shows are "reality" shows; personally, I've never seen them that way (ri Report this Argument Pro I do not have demographic evidence but I have experience of being around young teens and I can see who watches these shows. (ri) By having these shows on TV it shows young teens that this is an okay way to act in front of people. (s) This does create bad behavior. (s) The term "reality" is completely false, because in fact (ri) they are not reality. it is all made up nonsense which does not create any form of intelligent effects (re/c) Report this Argument

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Posted by RoyLatham 10 months ago

No attempt was made to define "reality show." It seems to me a reality show is any program showing unscripted human behavior. If that's the definition, then it's easy to defeat the resolution by giving examples of reality shows that provide positive role models. "Deadliest Catch" and "Ice Road Trucker" are examples.

Another argument is that the harm done by censorship is greater than any harm done by allowing the programs to exist. All censorship requires a censor who makes judgments as to what is allowed, and having the censorship mechanism is ripe for error and abuse.

I don't know if studies have been done of the effects of reality shows, but such studies are prone to confusing cause and effect. Misbehaving teens may prefer to watch the shows, so the correlation is caused by the viewer's preference rather than the show causing bad behavior.

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3 votes have been placed for this debate. Showing 1 through 3 records.

Vote Placed by RoyLatham 10 months ago

	poppinoffgrounds	samantha0331	Tied
Agreed with before the debate:		-	-	0 points
Agreed with after the debate:		-	-	0 points
Who had better conduct:	-	-		1 point
Had better spelling and grammar:	-	-		1 point
Made more convincing arguments:		-	-	3 points
Used the most reliable sources:	-	-		2 points
Total points awarded:	3	0

Reasons for voting decision: Pro failed to meet the burden of proof. It would be necessary to show through evidence that bad behavior is caused, that the harm done is so severe as to justify censorship, and that no other remedy is better. See comments

Vote Placed by 16kadams 10 months ago

	poppinoffgrounds	samantha0331	Tied
Agreed with before the debate:	-	-		0 points
Agreed with after the debate:	-	-		0 points
Who had better conduct:	-	-		1 point
Had better spelling and grammar:	-	-		1 point
Made more convincing arguments:	-	-		3 points
Used the most reliable sources:	-		-	2 points
Total points awarded:	0	2

Reasons for voting decision: multi accounts = tie it

Vote Placed by angrymen 10 months ago

	poppinoffgrounds	samantha0331	Tied
Agreed with before the debate:		-	-	0 points
Agreed with after the debate:		-	-	0 points
Who had better conduct:	-	-		1 point
Had better spelling and grammar:	-		-	1 point
Made more convincing arguments:		-	-	3 points
Used the most reliable sources:	-	-		2 points
Total points awarded:	3	1

Reasons for voting decision: Pro didn't fulfill her BOP. Pro had no real evidence for her claim that they cause bad behavior. Spelling and grammer to pro for a couple of misspellings on cons part. Also whats with the (s)", (ri)'s, and others?