A hidden influence

During today's media and technology class, the topic of TV shows and films came up. The class was discussing the ways in which most TV shows that children and teens watch nowadays, constantly send out misconceptions and unrealistic goals that create needs as well as rude behavior towards parents, siblings and others.
These popular shows include Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, My Super Sweet 16 and 90210, just to name a few.
These shows tend to have a few things in common. They are all dominated by rich upper-class white teens with unrealistic bodies, who don't eat and who go behind their parents backs, maintaining a distant relationship with them at all times.
These shows are not necessarily popular for those reasons, but rather because they create a sense of fantasy filled with all the material possessions one can ever have or want. People of all ages watch these shows, although, it is unfortunately, the younger crowd that get negatively influenced by the messages these shows send out, because these children have not yet been taught how to separate the good connotations from the bad. This ties into the idea of media literacy, and how I strongly believe it should be enforced into the curriculum. This way, when students watch these shows, they can have their own opinions about them, as opposed to the ones their crowd of friends may tell them to have.

Although I follow all of the shows mentioned above, I am able to ignore their negative aspects and simply enjoy a good, overly-dramatic, unrealistic, time consuming show without having my life revolve around it, or be compared to it. If only I was able to see through them at a younger age...