Austin Scholar #21: What Your Kid Can Learn From The Kardashians
The Kardashians Are More Than Just Reality Stars
Hey, y'all!
Many people scoff whenever they hear about the latest Kardashian scandal. They think the family is ridiculous and unworthy of their fame.
Conversely, I believe that everyone has a lot to learn from the Kardashian family. The Kardashians can teach us how to use our own skills and passions to our advantage and live overall more successful lives.
But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.
This week from Austin Scholar...
Austin’s Anecdote: My love affair with the Kardashians
Three things your kid can learn from the Kardashians
Scholar’s Sources: Other reality TV shows your kid can learn from
This week, by the request of my parents (“Austin, you can’t just stay in the apartment all day on your laptop. Get outside. Go on a walk.”), I’ve been walking to different downtown coffee shops to find my favorite place to work.
I’m walking and outside. I am still on my laptop, though :)
Here are my official rankings for Week 1 Of Working Not At The Apartment:
Starbucks – 6.5/10: I went both on Monday and Thursday. The food is great and it’s open until 8:00 PM, but the seating is quite uncomfortable and the vibe is too warm.
Merit – 4/10: I went only on Tuesday because of how horrible the seating was. The chocolate croissant was very good and I enjoyed the atmosphere, but my back hurt at the end of the day, and I’m literally sixteen years old.
The Codependent – 8/10: Everything is fantastic (very comfortable chairs and couches, brilliant croissants and tea, and a very cool atmosphere), except for the fact that there are no laptops allowed past 4:00 PM and some tables are “No Laptops Welcome Here” tables.
Austin’s Anecdote: My Love Affair With The Kardashians
I love the Kardashians. They are the most dramatic, fantastic, absurd, entertaining family I have ever had the pleasure of watching on TV.
Up until a couple of months ago, though, I had never watched a single episode of their show.
My parents were never the biggest fans of those types of TV shows.
My sister and I were never allowed to watch Spongebob, Jessie, or even talk about the Kardashians. Something about "bad influences?"
My best friend, on the other hand, was Obsessed (capital O) with the Kardashian family. He's probably seen every episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians at least twice. He would talk to me about the latest Kardashian drama and I would nod along like I knew what he was talking about.
But then, a few months ago, the show The Kardashians was released. And, because I’ve gotten older, my parents deemed me mature enough to watch The Kardashians without becoming an unbearable and rude drama queen.
I watched the first episode with my best friend, and I was a goner. Every Thursday, I waited in anticipation to get home so that I could watch the newest episode of arguments, drama, and intrigue.
But what makes the Kardashians so successful? There are so many other reality TV families who have tried and failed at fame.
A little piece of the Kardashian puzzle fell into place for me during one of my friend and I's passionate rants about the absurdity of the Kardashians.
And that night, when I was explaining my findings to my parents, I knew I wanted to write about the Kardashians and try my best to explain to parents why their kids can learn so much from trying to emulate the Kardashian family.
The Three Things Your Kid Can Learn From The Kardashians
So. The Kardashians.
They've all had their fair share of marriages, breakups, scandals, and fame (here's a quick backstory of the Kardashian-Jenner family if you want to check it out before reading the rest of this article).
When thinking about why the Kardashians are such a special reality TV family, there are three key characteristics of each star that come to mind: their ‘sheep,’ drive, and influence.
These are three things that are crucial for your teenager to learn.
‘Sheep’
What do I mean by ‘sheep’?
Well, in Austin Scholar #3: The Sheep God of Catan I talked about building your own Personal Monopoly and how you can be successful by owning a unique domain.
In Catan, that means using your unique positioning on the board to have a monopoly on a specific, unique resource – sheep. In real life, becoming a domain expert in your own niche allows you to have full control over that market.
It was one big Catan metaphor for success.
Basically, having your own 'sheep' means being able to combine your specific skills and interests in a unique way in order to become the world's expert in your own domain.
For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger combined bodybuilding, acting, and politician-ing, to become the American icon we all know. If he had just become the world's bodybuilding expert or just a politician, he wouldn't have become as successful or famous. It was the combination of these different things that made him interesting, memorable, and unique – because no one else was doing it.
Now, how does this apply to the Kardashians?
The Kardashians got their first true five minutes of fame when Kim Kardashian's sex tape was released. Then, because the family was attractive and surrounded in a scandal, and Kim Kardashian was friends with Paris Hilton, they got their first season of their TV show, "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."
I'm sure that no one was expecting the family to amount to anything much after that first season. I mean, how many reality TV families can you name who have lasted for over twenty seasons?
But, the Kardashian family did what others failed to do; they each had their own ‘sheep.’
Kim Kardashian is known for her body, so she created SKIMS, a shapewear company.
Kylie Jenner's lips became iconic, so she made Kylie Lip Kits.
Khloé Kardashian built an all-inclusive jean company (Good American) after being shamed as 'the fat sister.'
Each sister owned their unique domain based on their ‘sheep’ and overall public brand. They took their unique skills and interests and honed them and built them up until they completely dominated their own markets.
If they had just stayed in the field of “reality TV star,” the Kardashians would not have been able to build the empire they did.
Teaching your kid to combine their unique passions and skills into their own ‘sheep’ can completely change their lives. (For me – I’m not horrible at writing, I know everything about educational apps, and I’m a teenager. So, I have this newsletter.)
Let them use their expertise in TikTok or photo editing and historical video games or baseball statistics and their unique perspective as a teenager to create and control their own domain.
Drive
To me, drive encompasses two things: ambition and action.
The ambition piece represents the big, scary, seemingly impossible goals.
The action piece is having the intense desire to just do and try.
So, if having drive is having the desire to achieve a really hard goal, how do the Kardashians show this?
Well, just think of Kris Jenner.
The Kardashians' Goal: become the most famous family in America. Status: Achieved.
Kris Jenner is the reason that the family reached this goal. She is basically always working and running her kids' 50,000 businesses and managing the media and everything else.
Also, she is known for being willing to do pretty much anything (manipulation, using her kids, creating scandals, etc.) to meet her goals of fame and fortune.
While her means are sometimes questionable, she clearly has drive.
So, whenever I have a super hard goal to complete and I don't know where to start, I just think: What Would Kris Jenner Do? (WWKJD)
If she would wake up at 6 AM in order to get more stuff done, I'll wake up at 6 AM.
If she would spend as much time and energy as she needs to promote herself and her family, I will take as many audience-building courses as I need to.
Teach your kid to channel their inner Kris Jenner and to have drive.
Influence
By influence, I'm talking about being able to encounter or experience something unfortunate that is easy to be seen as a negative, and turn it around into something useful. Basically, being able to influence the impact of any situation in your favor.
For a personal example, The Accounting Disaster of Sixth Grade was one of the worst times of my life, and though it took me a few years, I've been able to use that situation as a lesson to other parents in my newsletter. Though I wouldn't say it was a positive experience, it was certainly something useful to share.
Kim Kardashian would definitely not say that having a sex tape leaked was a positive experience, but it was certainly useful in getting her family into the limelight.
Being shamed for her body was definitely absolutely horrible, but at least Khloé Kardashian has been able to use her story to promote her brand.
It's not just big things that this is useful for.
Getting a bad quiz grade is definitely not a fun time, but taking the quiz and realizing what topics you need to work on, and then spending extra time on those topics while studying can make your final test go a lot smoother.
Having a really sad friendship breakup seems like the end of the world, but writing an awesome poem about the experience and winning the Scholastic competition is pretty cool.
The Kardashians have mastered influencing the impact of any situation, and your kid should too.
So, parents – when your kid mentions the next Kardashian scandal or puts their show on, don't be so quick to dismiss the family as a bad influence. There are important lessons to be learned from this petty, dramatic, larger-than-life family.
Scholar’s Sources: Other Reality TV Shows Your Kid Can Learn From
"The Kardashians" isn't the only reality show that your kids can learn from.
Here are three other reality TV shows that have valuable lessons for your teenager.
Survivor is one of my absolute favorite TV shows, as I mentioned in Austin Scholar #20: Three Rules For Getting Teenagers to Read Over the Summer. This show is one of the biggest and most successful social experiments on TV. Survivor is filled with lessons on relationship building, mental toughness, and strategy. Every tribal council can inspire a great conversation about social dynamics and friendship vs success – which becomes a valuable learning experience for your kid.
I just started watching Snowflake Mountain with my dad, and let me tell you, it is crazy. The show basically exposes the weaknesses of the stereotypical Gen Z kid. Laziness, rudeness, and self-centeredness are just a few of the flaws that are tackled in this show. Snowflake Mountain can be a great wake-up call for your kid. It's easier to criticize characters on a TV than themselves, so recognizing specific negative traits on a TV show first can help them recognize their own weaknesses and where they want to improve.
The Circle is a show that provides the perfect opportunity for parents to talk to their kids about the influences and dangers of social media. Not only does the show give the perfect window to start that conversation, but it also explores how amazing it can be to build connections and real relationships over the internet. So with this show, you explore both the positives and negatives of social media.
Reality TV isn’t all petty drama and “bad influences.” There are actually so many lessons that can be learned from these shows – you just have to look for them.
Thanks for reading. Go crush the week! See y'all on Wednesday.
Another great essay, "Austin"!