Last night MTV aired a show Called True Life – I’m in Debt. It was about 3 young women deep in credit card debt and the impact it had on their lives. I think its great MTV is bringing this issue to its viewers because this generation is in more debt then any other.

Here’s my problem. MTV did a horrible job of outlining any type of solution, namely education! In fact, I almost got the feeling they were glorifying bankruptcy.

Here’s the story…

The girls (about 23 years old) financial hardships began right after losing their jobs. They weren’t the most responsible young ladies in the world, but then again very few early 20 year olds are.

One had a mortgage and about $20,000.00 in credit card debt. The other two had between $10,000 & $20,000 in credit card debt.

Missed opportunities by MTV!
In one scene one of the girls grabbed her stack of bills from the mailbox and just started allocating money to each bill. There was no order of priority or systematic payment plan. She simply cashed her check and gave each creditor about 40.00

There was no attention to who had the highest interest rate, or the highest balance, just randomly throwing a couple dollars at each bill trying to stay afloat.

I’m going to assume the intention of MTV producing this show was to educate, or at least warn young consumers of the dangers of credit card debt. With that being said, this would have been the perfect opportunity to explain how she could have prioritized her payment e.g. focusing on highest interest cards, balance transfers, negotiating with creditors etc.

I watched the entire show waiting for MTV to step up and offer some sort of education; absolutely nothing. Scene after scene was one missed opportunity after another. To make matters worse, the ending drove home the entirely wrong message.

One young lady finally filed for bankruptcy (after almost making a bigger mistake –credit counseling)

After her Bankruptcy, the next scene showed her and her friends at a restaurant celebrating - the girl could not have looked happier. She expressed how relieved she was to be free of the debt and in the closing credits MTV writes something like…

“Leslie (whatever her name was) is now free of debt and is able to save $400.00 per month and plans on moving out of her parent’s house in a year”

The only message I got from this is that it sucks to be broke, but I certainly didn’t learn a lesson. I didn’t learn how to deal with, avoid or solve credit problems. I did learn however, that if I’m ever in debt bankruptcy didn’t look too bad, at least this girl didn’t seem to mind.

Let’s fast forward 4 years from now. That’s about the time the bankrupt girl will most likely have a pocket full of plastic again.

What did she learn besides credit card debt sucks? She still doesn’t know which cards to pay off first. She was never taught the difference between a good interest rate and a bad one. I have no doubt these girls will be in the same boat in no time.

My question is this…
Did MTV have good intentions and just miss the mark, or were they just trying to get yet another reality show on the air? They certainly have the attention of the right audience, now they just need to deliver. Not just deliver a reality show geared at ratings, let’s deliver a show that offers a solution and not just a band-aid, education!

How does that go again?

“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach him to fish - you feed him for life.”