by Jeanette DePatie, MA, ACE

This past week, I was horrified to learn that the upcoming season of the television show “The Biggest Loser” will include children. “Well that’s just great,” I thought. “Now we’re throwing our kids to the lions too!”

Modern television, and “reality” television in particular, have always seemed like voyeuristic media to me. I’ve often likened the “boob tube” to the Roman Coliseum—where animals and people were routinely put into fantastic and often deadly situations for the amusement of the spectators. There were a variety of scenarios in Rome. Sometimes people were sent to kill animals, sometimes animals were set against one another, sometimes gladiators fought one another and sometimes condemned criminals (including those persecuted for their religious beliefs) were simply sent in to die in “interesting” ways like being crucified, burned alive or torn apart by wild beasts.

I think reality television shows like “The…