"Preachers' Daughters" Reality Show--What Could Go Wrong?

A new show is starting tonight on Lifetime: "Preachers' Daughters." It's about adolescent daughters of preachers, how they want "freedom," their daddies are super-strict on them, and then there is lots of lying, crying, arguing, and the girls showing off how nuts they are because they are "preachers' daughters." Sounds totally logical and not like a train-wreck at all, right?

I am not technically a PK (preacher's kid). I am, however, an MK (missionary's kid) whose dad preached occasionally. My parents have worked for the Presbyterian Church for 13 years. I lived overseas in a third-world country (Vanuatu) with them for five years and moved back to the States when I was 16, where I was put into a big-city public school. Nothing can go wrong there...ha!

I went through my rebellious phase while I struggled with anorexia and an abusive relationship--all in high school. In college, my first three years were just as hard. I had too many "relationships," struggled with taking things seriously, and tried on different identities to see where I could fit in.

So, did I go through all of this because my parents were missionaries? No. Can kids kind of go off the deep end when they feel like there are expectations that they cannot reach? Absolutely.

I absolutely cannot imagine having to do everything I went through with cameras and a million people watching my every move. This show has the potential to make the girls' lives a lot harder than it already is. Regardless of what everyone says about "reality" TV, we all know that we act differently when we know people are watching us. Teenage girls feel that pressure multiplied by 1000 because they usually assume that everyone is watching them all the time anyway!

If anyone feels like this show is a bad idea, please tell Lifetime. I am not against this show just because I think the premise is stupid--I think that it actually has potential to be dangerous for these young girls, as well as the PKs and MKs who will watch it. If Lifetime and these girls' parents won't take responsibility for their safety, the public should.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world." --Gandhi