Reality parents exploit their children for fame

Recently, Jon Goslin, the star of TLC's "Jon and Kate Plus 8," was up in arms after the show's editor, William Blankinship, was charged with child pornography.

A Today Show website article, "‘Kate Plus 8' editor arrested for child porn," stated Blankinship was arrested on Oct. 21 for 10 counts of sex exploit of a minor, "meaning he possessed photos and/or video of a minor engaged in sexual activity."

The MSNBC article "Jon Goslin worried after ‘Plus 8' editor's child porn arrest," stated Goslin became concerned about whether or not Blankinship had images of his children that could be seen as sexual by child predators, such as images of potty training.

"Of course we filmed potty training," Goslin said in the MSNBC article. "Any parent would be freaked out by this, because the cameraman definitely shot the kids getting ready for bed, being showered and being changed."

While I'm glad Goslin has enough decency to be worried about whether or not his children have been violated by Blankinship, that doesn't excuse him from placing his children in this situation in the first place with the show.

For nearly seven seasons,"Jon and Kate Plus 8" video cameras followed the Goslin children and their parents around through every aspect of daily life.

And the unfortunate thing about allowing such people into a home to record every single moment of every single action nearly every single day is that it thrusts these children into the public sphere, making them as public as Lindsey Lohan or Kim Kardashian.

These children are so public, they are going to be exposed to child predators whether or not the Goslins want that. This is an aftereffect of the current trend of reality TV's obsession with children.

With shows like "Plus 8," TLC's "Toddlers and Tiaras," and MTV's "Teen Mom," parents have been forcing their children to become part of the public's consciousness.  

And unfortunately, once these children are out there, the children cannot easily leave the spotlight and are exposed to every person—from the everyday, normal voyeur who is just curious about their lives to the very real threat of child predators.

The public wants to see these shows because people have a voyeuristic nature, an innate curiosity to know what happens in families where there is a special situation: large numbers of children, children doing strange like beauty pageants, or anything else out of the ordinary.  

But it is the parents who allow their children to be exposed to the public in this way who need to take responsibility for what happens after their children have been forced out into the public spotlight.

If parents choose to expose their children to the public through reality TV shows, they have to be prepared for the consequences that come from doing so, and that includes making their children vulnerable to the sick people of this world who can gain entry to their children's lives simply by turning on the TV.