MTV's Guide to Parenting

One of my guiltiest TV pleasures is My Super Sweet 16 on MTV. Yet another "reality" show on the former music network, this show follows the antics of various teenage girls planning their 16th birthday parties. The catch is that these kids are ridiculously wealthy. Or rather their parents are. I think the bulk of the kids come from California (Orange County, of course) and their parents are usually media moguls, hedge fund managers, mega-club owners, and the like. And these parties are outrageous. Huge clubs and ballrooms rented out with guest performances by national acts, hundreds of guests, designer clothes, yadda yadda yadda...it's ridiculous. One of the juiciest segments is when the girl-of-the-hour assembles her wicked coterie of "friends" and they debate who among their peers is worthy to attend the affair ("hot","sweet", "cool") and who simply doesn't rank ("fat", "loser", "bitch").

It's trashy, voyeuristic, and utterly vapid but I do think the show can provide some valuable parenting tips to people with teenage daughters, especially rich people with teenage daughters. And the lesson is this; Don't spoil your kids. I know, you've heard it before but it is worth reiterating. Why, you ask. Because the girls on this show are the shittiest people on Earth. Hands down. If you ever wondered why Paris Hilton is the way she is, My Super Sweet 16 will show you exactly how she became a solipsistic whore. My favorite quote from one of the episodes is "If my parents don't give me a car for my birthday, I'm never speaking to them again." And I thought I was a dick to my parents.

So, to all my friends planning on one day having kids I suggest you watch this show and learn.