The Triangle

Issue date: 7/17/09 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: Ron Tarver MCT

Reality television has sucked us in and whether some of us would like to admit it, we all have at least one reality TV show we watch religiously. These TV shows are addicting - and what I think we are addicted to is the drama, especially the negative drama. The most prime example of negative drama, which has garnered a ridiculous amount of publicity, is the pending divorce of Jon and Kate Gosselin from TLC's reality TV show, "Jon and Kate plus 8," about how a married couple manage to raise twins and sextuplets.

While I do not watch the show religiously, I admit I have on occasion watched an episode or two primarily because those kids are some of the cutest kids I have ever seen. But unfortunately the show is no longer about those cute kids - it's about the parents, Jon and Kate. The country seems to be divided and there is definitely a team Jon and a team Kate and the more publicity the couple gets, the more invested society becomes.

However I do not side with either Jon or Kate because amid all the rumors of infidelity on both sides, what really needs to be addressed are the welfare and safety of their eight children. Now I personally have no experience in this department but I can safely assume that raising eight children is no small task. Now what happens to these eight children who are each raised by two single parents? Although the eight children will remain in the home they currently reside, Jon and Kate will both be taking turns living there.

Despite the separation and pending divorce, the show is still airing and Jon and Kate continue to address their relationship as well as the rumors. When season five premiered, an estimated 9.8 million watched, which was more than double the number of viewers that the show usually has. I think that as very young children the show was a cute idea and one of the more interesting and respectable reality television shows. But now the sextuplets are five and the twins are eight, and they are no longer babies. The successful television show is now in its fifth season and mother Kate Gosselin has also written two best-selling novels about her experiences as a mother of eight children. The question that comes to my mind now is, isn't that enough?

If these parents really cared for the well-being of their children like they say they do, perhaps they would let all the glory and fame they have accumulated go to let their kids just be kids. Sure, life for them will never be normal; after all, each individual child in the Gosselin family has seven siblings, but it could probably be closer to normal if a camera wasn't always in their faces. Furthermore, the time spent speaking in front of the camera about their troubled relationship and pending divorce could better be spent actually acting as parents to their children.

So as America continues to take sides for either Jon or Kate, what they are forgetting are the eight other sides in the situation which are being forgotten - the eight children. Did Jon have an affair with a younger woman? Did Kate cheat on Jon with the bodyguard? Who knows, both could be true and neither could be true. The only truth there is in this matter is that the ones getting hurt the most in this situation are the little ones who are not getting any say - Cara, Madelyn, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah and Joel.



Hannah Alexander is a sophomore majoring in Communication. She can be reached at op-ed@thetriangle.org

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