One of the special bonds that men and women can share is a union through marriage. Aside from the legal benefits and tax breaks, marriage displays the commitment and devotion that two people have for one another. However, as the years are progressing, marriage rates are dropping, and divorce rates are rising. Why is this happening? Do people just not love each other like they used to? Or is something else working behind the scenes?

To me, the media seem to be at the root of this problem. Think about it: When you look at daily broadcast and print media, what do you see? Various types of propaganda, showing each of us how to think and act.

Here are a few examples: The movie industry advertises a variety of products for companies while displaying actors and actresses as being sexy and constantly happy individuals. Magazines produce helpful hints on how to attract the opposite sex. Television shows and commercials display a multitude of products ranging from the latest in designer wear to the best in makeup, telling consumers what they need in order to be “in.”

Amid all this, we are trying to make ends meet each day. Do we really need powerful media forces to influence our thoughts and subtract from our wallets? Of course not. We are all intelligent individuals capable of making our own decisions. Even so, dating shows flood television networks, greatly shaping viewers’ minds.

If we could juxtapose the content of dating shows with actual lifelong partnerships, we could easily see that such content is what’s keeping some people from staying together.

Strangely enough, although I’m blaming dating shows for reducing marriage rates, I don’t mind watching them because they are meant to entertain and, in most cases, do so.

But I’ll be frank. Dating shows take great measures to emulate daily interactions between people in the most unrealistic manner. The first problem is that the people who participate in these types of shows are on staged dates.

Participants in these reality shows are usually successful, physically fit, good-looking and sexy for the sake of viewers. They engage in a series of dates with the option of changing their partner at a moment’s notice. At this point, you may be thinking that changes and unpredicted circumstances like that happen in real life.

For the most part, you’re right. We should realize, however, that the content of such shows isn’t what’s harmful; instead, the viewer’s perception, which is affected by the content, is harmful. The dynamics of these shows change our perception of what is acceptable in both dating and daily interactions.

And when such dynamics are constantly placed upon viewers, a negative change in individuals’ “acceptance values” can result, thereby creating beings who have higher (and usually) unrealistic standards when searching for partners.

The second problem is that some viewers easily buy into the behaviors they see on the screen. For instance, if guys witness another guy being rude to a girl but ends up being with her, many of them will begin to behave similarly, feeling that they will woo and win their respective potential targets.

The same can be said for females. If they view other females on screen who seem to be Janes of all trades and able to accommodate all of the male’s needs, then many of them are likely to change their behaviors in order to emulate the perceived success that they saw on T.V.

Obviously, there are many issues at hand and many consequences for such behaviors. Clear to me is that the dating shows truly are messing up marriage. Couples who should love each other and sharing themselves only with their spouses are breaking off commitments as if doing so is the latest trend. Sadly, they don’t seem to realize what they’re missing and how their actions can adversely affect their own and future generations.

Marriage certainly is not dead yet and may never be, but it seems to be finding its way onto the endangered species list.