To audiences, reality television stars live carefree existences, spending their days lunching on sunny cafe terraces and exercising their bottomless wallets at luxury stores. However, the central focus of reality TV series' such as “The Real Housewives” and “The Hills” is the explosive drama and feuding between cast members. Characters engage in volatile fights, throwing hurtful verbal insults at each other and sometimes extending to physical methods of humiliation. They bully one another throughout episodes, setting a poor example for the millions of young, impressionable viewers who tune in every week. The reality stars’ poor behavior encourages bullying in teens who wish to obtain the celebrities’ glamorous, privileged lifestyles.

"Personally, I think reality TV is a mimic of what's happening in real life, not the other way around. People have always had arguments, and there's always been cliques," said Real Housewife of Atlanta, Kandi Burruss. Here, Burruss argues that reality TV presents an accurate representation of real-life drama. However, as public figures, these women should set positive examples for their fans. Rather than use their position to promote respect and appropriate communication, reality stars inflame the issue of bullying by engaging in heated, sometimes animalistic confrontations. They refuse to forgive one another, form silly alliances, and turn cocktail parties into battlegrounds.

In season two of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” guest cast member, Brandi Glanville, receives constant abuse from the other housewives. The women alienate Glanville and engage in catty gossip sessions, shout and point fingers in her face, and even go as far as to hide her crutches when she has a broken leg. Is this really how human beings should act towards one another? This type of outrageous conduct is enlisting all the wrong values into America’s youth. Reality television stars are responsible for glorifying abusive behavior, for disguising their interior ugliness with gold jewelry and designer purses. As a result, viewers adopt bullying as a way of embarking on a path to the better life they see on the screen.