Just as I suspected, my time on The Takeawaythis morning discussing the impact of reality TV on teenagers had mesounding very much like an old-fashioned school marm. There I wastalking about values and judgment and parental supervision, while17-year old Grace stole the show with her concise analysis of thecurrent reality lineup.

Initially, I thought the issue wasmore about what kind of bad behavior kids could learn from reality TV.Teenage brains aren’t fully developed, meaning they’re not as able tomake sound decisions as (some) adults. They’re also in a process offiguring out who they are and what they like—a process that can beinfluenced by what they watch, what they listen to, and what they seetheir friends doing. Would seeing good looking, well-edited, casual-sexhaving, AMEX-toting, underage drinking teens on TV ruin the moralcompass of “normal” kids?

As host John Hockenberry pointedout, however, kids aren’t stupid. They know that these shows arestaged, that the producers intervene, and that situations are plannedahead of time for maximum conflict. Superstar Grace wished that showswere a bit more real, rather than trying to cram an entire week’s worthof experiences into 22-minute chunks.

So the issue is not whether watching self-absorbed teens on TV will turn your kids into similarly miserable humans.

What is the issue? Find out after the jump.