Celebrity Kids In Reality Show: How Normal Is It For Them?

In this day and age when media's fascination with the stars is in its fiercest, something about reality series that feature unwitting kids seem a little disturbing to watch.

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Replacing soap operas as the new viewers' guilty pleasure, reality series or docusoaps have undoubtedly taken daily lives, especially when they "humbly" act as normal parents to their kids.

While the celebrities are adults capable of thinking for themselves, their children are another matter. It's not as if the kids can just say no when their parents told them a camera would be filming their every move. Maybe the kids think it would be cool to be seen on camera unscripted, but that's why they have parents to protect them from dangers, including a seemingly harmless trailing production crew.

It may not be such a healthy thought to have the whole of America watch Ali Lohan pass or fail an audition while her momager Dina tries to market her to willing producers. And it seems like a bad idea for Denise Richards to allow the cameras to catch a glimpse of her daughters while she's embroiled in a sordid custody battle with ex-husband Charlie Sheen.

Their reasons for subjecting their children to public scrutiny may vary from fame, career exposure, financial benefit, or even, as Denise puts it, to have the world to see the real her.

No matter how one puts it, it speaks of exploitation. Putting a child's moments on display for the world to see may have drastic effects, and certainly not normal. The show may not revolve solely on the minors, but even if they are just supporting casts in their parents-centric play, they are still out exposed.

It's unsettling to know that kids are put on such situations. For celebrities who have paparazzi perpetually intruding into their personal lives, privacy is something that one would think they guard the most. So it's baffling to know they let cameras in their homes, probably the only place where they can relax without paranoia of flashing light bulbs.

To further reiterate the point, here are Janice Dickinson's words when she said her daughter hates to be part of her then upcoming reality show: "But I have to have her on... If she wants to go to college."