Reality TV Fixes All Problems

Many people in the Memphis area are sheltered from the realities of the city’s failing school system while others are forced to cope with it. The plight of the Memphis City Schools plays out every day as underperforming facilities serve swaths of students that are not receiving the educational environment they deserve. These students should be recognized as a currently untapped source of long term positive social change for our city.

Can educating the public about this problem in a unique way finally lead to better understanding and possibly a shift in thinking about this problem? If so, how could we bring this issue to the limelight and stop letting it be effectively ignored by the masses? Obviously, the answer is reality TV! A new reality TV series titled “School Pride” recently started. The show aims to unite communities to renovate aging school buildings that brings a resulting boost in local confidence and pride. A quick look at the commentary on a few websites reveals that students, parents, and faculty are all clamoring for a chance to be on the show- and their focus is much less on being in front of a camera and much more focused on helping out their community. I think it could actually be an encouraging endeavor if it came to Memphis to work in one of our schools but, unfortunately, we aren’t on the list for this season.

Reality TV probably is not a truly useful solution to many problems, if any, but we could take a lesson from this: given the opportunity and the right coordination, people want to make a difference in their community- especially when it concerns education and youth. Social service marketing campaigns reach out to find those who have a specific need for their efforts, but how do we reach out to citizens that are not in need but are still profoundly affected by the problems of the city? Residents may not realize how they are ultimately affected by a poor school system and the ways an undereducated community can lead the entire city to miss out on economic opportunities. If we can thoroughly expose our current public education problem to the masses AND effectively tie their success to the future health of our city then changes in perceptions and in policies may become possible. City and county consolidation may be a lousy bet, but with the proper marketing to our general public we could at least set the record straight about the discrepancies in quality of education between the urban and rural areas. Perhaps then we could begin engaged discussions of how bettering a problem in Memphis could benefit the region as a whole.