In the Daily Mail (Saturday, November 19), Dr Wright talks about her concerns over the effects of reality TV on young minds. Speaking to the paper ahead of her keynote presidential speech to the Girls’ Schools Association on Monday (November 21), Dr Wright outlined her concerns about the culture of ‘nastiness’ and ‘dog eat dog’ on shows likes The X Factor.
She said she believes the show is damaging children by glamorising bullying and arrogant behaviour.
In her speech to the GSA conference in Bristol on Monday, Dr Wright, President of the GSA, will warn that reality shows including The Only Way is Essex promote amoral messages and are ‘selling young people short’.
On last Saturday’s show, 17-year-old Janet Devlin was left in tears when judge Gary Barlow savaged her performance. Dr Wright said it promoted the message ‘you can be mean and nasty and that’s kind of okay’.
‘It’s going to have an impact at a subliminal level,’ she said. ‘To be happy, you need to develop good relationships. That’s not what you see on X Factor.’
Dr Wright's comments on reality television ahead of this week's national Girls' Schools Association Conference have also been reported by the Press Association and on Sky News following her interview with Saturday's Daily Mail.
Dr Wright will talk about her fears that the ethos of such shows sets a bad example to children at her speech to conference on Monday, November 21.