By Modupe Alabi, Vox Newspaper Atlanta

(Aired on WABE FM December 27, 2008)

Rather than calling me and my peers Generation X or Y we are sometimes called the dumbest generation. But has anyone taken into account what we are being fed mentally? TV shows like Flavor of Love, I Love New York, and I Love Money - all celebrity dating shows in which contestants compete in utterly ridiculous competitions to win the affection of some has-been musician or B-list celebrity.
Watching all these events take place, it seems that today’s youth can’t get enough of watching everyday people eating reproductive organs of pigs, running through obstacle courses and lassoing free range animals, all to end up with a broken heart as reality show stars claim.However, I am guilty of watching these shows too. Yes, Sunday nights around ten p.m.  I turn my TV to VH1 or sometimes MTV to watch the antics of yet another artist whose career ended before I was born. On Monday mornings, instead of engaging ourselves in some sort of intellectual conversation, many of us teens talk about ridiculous things. These TV shows have taken something as important as finding love and turned it into a gimmick and yet another product to feed and corrupt the minds of today's youth. It's no wonder why it's called the idiot box.

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