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Effects of Big Brother series on the Youth

Introduction

Television, unlike other media of mass communication is considered to be the most

convincing medium. Big Brother reality show was premiered in 1999 at Veronica in the
Netherlands and it made its first debut in 2003 in Africa as Big Brother Africa. Big Brother
Africa, is produced by Endemol (in South Africa) and it depicts contestants from different
African countries living in a remote mansion in Johannesburg, South Africa. Each participating
country sends at least one contestant, who will spend the next few days in the house competing
for a large reward. Viewers can save a competitor they want to see more of or evict a contestant
they want to leave the house, depending on the scenario. As of 2014, the competition had
seventeen African countries involved. The show first aired on M-Net in 2003 for a single season,
reaching people in 42 African countries. The big brother Africa has faced many controversies
since it started gaining popularity. Critics of the show have called for its ban from the television
citing the nudity, loose morals and other factors which they claim can negatively influence the
youth.

Big Brother Africa Nudity Sexual content and Harm.

The viewership of BBA since its debut in 2003 has grown to an estimate of more than forty
million persons across Africa. According to ( Lingnan ), BBA is unarguably one of the most
watched/followed indigenous TV reality shows on the African continent”. However, because it
promotes immorality through the showing of obscene scenes and the use of profane language,
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this program has a significant impact on the younger generation. Many evaluations of BBA,
according to( Chikafa and Mateveke ), are primarily condemnations of the show as un-African
and promoting immoral beliefs. While some research showed no link between sexual media
content exposure and damage in children and adolescents, a vast number of studies determined
that exposure to sexual media material (including naked images) had an impact on children and
adolescents' attitudes and behaviors. The following are some of the findings:

Negative Impact

 Young People attitudes and perceptions of sexual reality may be shaped by such media,
which may cause them to regard that content as normative. This may lead to more
permissive sexual attitudes among youth, as well as higher estimates of sexual activity
among peers that match what they see on television. It is thought that the “more time
people spend 'living' in the world of television, the more likely they are to believe the
social reality depicted on television” (Cohen and Weimann 13(2). Mass media
progressively instill messages in the minds and consciousness of viewers, and that
continued exposure will cause viewers to experience reality as depicted on television
 Sexual media content has the potential to influence children's attitudes and healthy
development, as well as promote sexual risk taking (for example, through early sexual
activity, casual sex, and/or a proclivity to have several sexual partners).
 When children unwittingly watch sexual media content, they experience long-lasting
sentiments of shock and embarrassment.

Positive Impact

 As a result of the sexualized media content, sex has become a less taboo subject, with
young people being more willing to openly discuss and reflect about what they had seen.
 Some teens appear to be intelligent and discerning in their media choices, able to
distinguish between what is appropriate (and realistic) content and what is not. They were
able to tell the difference between what they watched on TV and what they saw online.
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Supporting Youth Generation From Sexual content and Harm

When a child or young person is exposed to nudity, the risk of harm is reduced if the exposure
takes place in a supportive atmosphere where the child or young person feels able to
communicate about what they've seen or make sense of it in a way that makes sense to them. To
offset some of the harmful signals that children may acquire from sexual media content,
parents/caregivers and schools must provide education. Parents and caregivers may help by
improving their media literacy and knowledge of their children. It is critical for adults to
understand what media young people consume as part of their daily lives. Monitoring, filters,
guidelines, and restrictions around media use in the home can help to reduce youth's exposure to
nudity and sexually related media, as well as the consequences of that exposure. Parents should
emphasize the good parts of sexuality, such as love and respect, to their children. When
youngsters are given the opportunity to express their concerns, anxieties, and interests, they are
more likely to do so and this aids in the dismantling of the taboos surrounding morality and
social appropriateness.

Conclusion

The BBA reality TV show has a tendency to skew young people's moral beliefs and sense of
judgment, as well as their attitudes about decency, sexuality, morality, dressing, language,
respect for elders and indigenous cultures, and perceptions of women and violence against them.
Young individuals are influenced by sexual media content. Broadcasters should reduce the risk
of harm by ensuring that classifications, warnings, programming, and appropriate program
descriptions are carefully considered so that parents and caregivers can understand and make
informed decisions about what their families can access producers should use professional media
scheduling, programming, and content placement guidelines. The program should be rebuilt and
revived to reflect more indigenous African cultures and to act as a window for indigenous
African culture to be showcased to the rest of the globe.
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Works Cited

"Analysis of Big Brother Reality TV Show." StudyMoose, 17 Oct 2021,

https://studymoose.com/analysis-of-big-brother-reality-tv-show-essay

Chikafa, R. and Mateveke, P. (n.d). The ‘Africa’ in Big Brother Africa: ‘Reality’ TV and African
identity. Available at:
https://www.academia.edu/2103540/The_Africa_in_Big_Brother_Africa_Reality_TV_and
_African_identity_by_Rosemary_Chikafa_and_Pauline_Mateveke. Accessed on 17
October,2021

Cohen, J and Weimann, G (2000). Cultivation revisited: genres have some effects on viewers”.
Communication Report, 13 (2).

Folayan, B. J., Ajibade, O., Adedoyin, O., Onayinka, T. S., & Folayan, T. T. (2021). The big
brother Naija TV reality show as coordinate of media functions and dysfunctions.
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH, 17, 61–72.
https://doi.org/10.24297/jssr.v17i.9015

Lengnan, T (2013). BBA: South African, Angelo, in shameful romance with Nigeria’s Beverly.
Retrieved on October 17, 2021 from m.peoplesdailyng.com