Kimberly Shearer Palmer

About the author: Kimberly Shearer Palmer is a graduate student at the University of Chicago.

Young people find reality TV instructive as well as entertaining. They learn about dating, relating to their families, and dealing with sensitive issues such as AIDS, cancer, and mental illness by watching the way reality TV show participants deal with these crises. Because reality TV is unscripted and unrehearsed, the situations portrayed reveal true feelings and the realistic consequences of actions—good and bad.

Our obsession began with weekly dinners at which we would scrutinize the eligible men on ABC's The Bachelorette. My twentysomething friends and I debated which man would best suit our own needs as well as Trista's [participant on Bachelorette]. After celebrating her final choice, we thought we needed a...